Chereads / Spourting Gladiolus / Chapter 11 - Chapter 10: A time out

Chapter 11 - Chapter 10: A time out

Several days later

"You have a two day vacation, Amelia."

Diane stood in front of her office door which was a little unusual. Amelia did not think much of it until no matter how hard she tried to walk around Diane, she simply would not let her walk into her own office.

Then, she told her that she had earned a vacation.

"Why do I have a vacation?" She asked whilst her eyebrow raised.

Diane explained, "The Council kind of… decided on a whim. They said that you deserved a long vacation so earlier they told me to not let you in."

"How is two days a long vacation?" She complained as her eye twitched.

Diane laughed awkwardly and scratched her head, "I'm… not entirely sure either. But you're off on vacation."

Diane shoved her out of her office which was quite the sight to behold. Since Amelia was clearly much stronger than Diane would ever be, people thought she would not be able to just push her out.

Well, they were kind of wrong. She just willingly let herself be shoved out of her own office.

"Enjoy your vacation."

Diane bowed at her before closing the door in front of her face. Amelia stood that for a good few moments, people passing by could not help but to take a curious glance at her. She simply sighed and walked away.

"They could just message me about it. Is it that fun having someone close the door in my face?" She muttered.

She had to think about what to do. She could visit a lot of places in two days, or just do some work-related things. For the first time in a while, her mind was completely lost in decision making. She paced around a secluded section of the office while mumbling to herself.

"Who the hell… ugh, this is ANNOYING!" She scratched her head with both hands.

She eventually settled on going to find Jeremy and Chrysan while taking a visit to Mona's grave. It was a few days earlier than she was supposed to visit, but doing it now would be much better anyways. She would get the luxury of actually enjoying spending time.

She placed a portal on the nearest wall and walked through it, immediately warping to the front of Aeon's apartment door. She did not bother knocking on the door, the portal behind her disappeared as she walked in.

However, the situation turned a little more amusing than she would have thought so.

Aeon was at home, like he usually would. The only difference was that he wasn't wearing anything besides a towel covering the lower half of his body. He turned around to see who walked in like any else would, though he was not expecting to see Amelia.

They stared at each other, no one moving an inch. Even Aeon had to pause drinking his water from the glass.

"Hi." Amelia spoke first.

It was clear from the blush on her cheeks that she was embarrassed too, yet she looked comfortable enough seeing him partially naked to not just lie down and hide her face. It was not the first time they had seen each other naked, just the situation was a little too funny to not laugh.

Aeon stuttered, "H… hi."

She nodded and walked ahead of him to his room, her eyes purposely avoiding his. He stared at her, confused on why she decided to go to his room. He placed his glass down and went to his room as well.

He closed the door and walked to his closet. She was sitting on the left side of his bed, her eyes still clearly avoiding his. He did not say much and decided to change, understanding part of her unspoken intention. His mind was trying to figure out why she was here and why she just walked into his room knowing he was going to change.

"Wear something nice." She said without giving him any context.

He asked, "Where… are we going…?"

She shook her head, "Just bringing you to visit someone and a grave."

She turned around and raised her eyebrow, "Did you think I was going to bring you to a slaughterhouse or something?"

He swiftly shook his head, "Nope."

She turned around again, waiting for him to finish changing. She could tell that he was ecstatic since it was incredibly rare for her to take him somewhere. She was not sure if he would treat it like a date or just a hangout.

Either way, she was going to make sure that he at least had some fun.

He was ecstatic, so much so that his heart might explode just from hearing her invite him to hang out, even if it was not only the two of them. He nearly could not contain his excitement though he managed to hold himself back.

She sat on the stool and stared at the vanity. He had decided to wear his loose white shirt with long blue jeans since he really did not have anything in between extra and minimalist. He looked over to her staring at a few different colored ribbons.

"Do… you want me to help you?" He leaned down slightly.

She nodded, "Why not."

There were five in total, black, white, light blue, dark blue and grey. He stared at them for a moment before checking her out. She was wearing a buttoned white blouse that had buttons on the sleeves, black button skirt and black laced stockings. His eyes stared at her thighs for much longer than he was supposed to.

"Aeon…" She blushed and pinched his cheek.

He chuckled lightly, "Sorry sorry."

She eventually let it go and shook her head. He stared at the ribbons before picking up the light blue one. She handed a small comb over to him, he began to comb her hair. He hummed lightly while doing so.

"You like it?" She stared at him from the mirror.

He nodded, "Yep. It feels nice after all."

"Your hair is surprisingly soft." He chuckled while his fingers combed through her hair.

She sighed, "You make it sound like I don't take care of my hair."

"Ahahaha sorry about that." His began to tie her hair up while continued humming.

He carefully braided her hair to a long braided ponytail. He held it up with the light blue ribbon, he managed to tie it up to look like bunny ears. He let it go and stared at the mirror, a satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

"It's… cute." She went and poked the ribbon.

He tilted his head, "You like it?"

She nodded and had a small smile on her lips, though it went away quickly. He only managed to get a glimpse of it, somehow his eyes lingered on it even as it was long gone. She stood up and dragged him over to the door.

Something about the feeling of the smile gave him a warm feeling, very different from the either intimidating or polite smile.

"Ah, where are we going?" He snapped himself out of the daze.

She did not answer him and just opened his bedroom's door. The door that always went to the living room, instead it showed a large forest. She dragged him through his door and they landed… somewhere. He had no idea where he was but he trusted her enough to not question it.

The trees were large, much larger than normal. The trunk was thick and its height was extremely tall. They looked small compared to these trees which gave him a rough idea of where he was.

"This is another world. I think they named it 'The Sacred Sanctuaries'. There are five sections in total, each named after the direction on a compass, aside from one." She explained.

She was holding his wrist the entire time, simply dragging him along. He eventually stopped her and forced her to halt. She turned over to look at him, her eyebrows raised at his actions.

She let go of his wrist and completely turned around, crossed her arms and stared at him. He walked towards her and grabbed her wrist, before entangling his fingers with hers. He was again amazed by how soft and small her hands were compared to him.

"You won't mind, right?" He chuckled lightly and placed his lips on her fingers.

She blushed when he did so, that made him smile lightly. She looked away and continued to drag him along, she never let his hands go. He held on tightly, again humming lightly while they just walked through the forest.

The forest eventually cleared up as they reached in front of a visible dome. He stared at it, wondering how it was made. The dome was made from magic, it acted like a shield and wall to the cities within.

"This is the North Sanctuary where one of my friends lives." She mentioned as she was about to walk in.

He dragged her back before she could do so, "At least ask to be let in, don't just walk in."

"Alright alright." She shook her head.

She placed her hand on the dome, it immediately reacted to it, "Chrysan, Jeremy. It's Amelia."

She let go off of her hand, standing still and waiting. It eventually opened up a small doorway for both of them to pass through, Aeon did have to bend down so he would not hit himself on the head. She let go of his hand as Jeremy came into view.

"Hi Amelia." He waved while smiling brightly.

She nodded, "Hi Jeremy."

His light grey hair was disheveled, it looked more like a hedgehog above all else. His face had some dirt on it, though the gaze in his bright blue eyes said the opposite. He immediately noticed Aeon, since he was too tall not to notice.

"Who is that?" He walked closer to both of them.

Aeon introduced himself, "My name is Aeon. Nice to meet you."

He did not dare saying what status of relationship they were in, since it was a murky ground that was undefined. Jeremy did not ask further, he simply nodded and turned his attention back to Amelia.

"Did you have something to do with Chrysan? If so, she's out in the Center Sanctuary." He blinked.

She raised her right arm, "Actually, I'm on vacation. I was hoping we could visit Mona's grave."

"Ah. We could." He nodded.

"We will wait for you, go clean yourself up." She said.

Jeremy sprinted back home as she started walking. Aeon followed her, his eyes staring at Jeremy as he ran back home. He turned his attention back to Amelia who was just strolling the town.

The town felt traditional as the buildings were partially made out of wood. The sign boards were hand painted by professionals who placed utmost care into their works. The streets looked like those in the 1900s, somehow still felt modern.

"I'm buying some flowers before we go there." She said while turning down to another street.

"Oh, okay." He was admiring the buildings and people.

He lived in a world where only humans existed, the ones that were not human came from where Amelia lived. Although it was shocking to him seeing anthropomorphic species, it still felt nice seeing them live amongst humans.

She stood in front of a small stall that sold a variety of flowers. The owner seemed to recognise her as they greeted her politely, even offering to give her some flowers for free.

Despite her efforts of declining, they still gave her some flowers for free. He stared at them for a bit before staring at the flowers she had chosen. It was an odd choice for visiting a grave.

"Forget-me-nots?" He mumbled.

She still left some bills on the counter as she left with the bouquet of flowers, he again just followed her. He was still staring at the flowers, trying to figure why she had chosen them specifically.

"Would you live here?"

Her question took him off guard since he was not expecting her to ask him anything, or even the question she posed to him. He took a moment to think about it, soaking in the atmosphere.

"I would. It feels calm here, even if it might get boring." He answered with a gentle smile.

She muttered, "I see…"

It was a weird question since he had been living in his dainty apartment for decades. He had moved around different places, staying in one place until he wanted to move somewhere else. Always wandering around with his head covered.

He did not ask why even if he wanted to know why.

Jeremy's and Chrysan's home was large enough for both of them to live comfortably, maybe not a third person. It was a small and cozy home that only had one floor. There was a living room, three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen adjacent to the living room.

The entire house was painted in pastel, though the colouring was more to darker tones like brown and green. She went in and sat down on the couch, waiting for Jeremy to be done. She placed the flowers on the coffee table.

"For once you're awfully silent." She commented.

He raised his eyebrows and sat on the couch, "Am I always loud to you?"

She nodded, "Even when you don't talk, I can just feel you in the same space as me."

"Just so you know, that makes no sense to me." He blinked.

"I mean your existence likes to consume the room with whatever aura you have."

He scratched his head, "I do?"

She closed her eyes and leaned back, "Yep. Like if you get worried, the air suddenly gets incredibly tense."

"I suppose it's because of your abilities." She continued.

He tilted his head, "You think so? I don't think I have anything like that."

She sighed, "Mister Priest, you naturally have it. It's more of a trait."

"Please use the right words next time." He shook his head.

"Sorry teach." She shrugged.

He sighed and stopped talking. They sat in silence for a while, she seemed to sink into the couch more and more. His eyes somehow went to stare at her legs, this time having a clearer view of it.

"Aeon. Don't make me gauge your perverted eyes out." She warned while her eyes were still closed.

His mind seemed to have not processed her words as his left hand went and placed it on her thighs. That alerted her immediately as her face turned red and her eyes snapped open, pouting slightly and glared at him.

"You fucker." She cursed.

He caressed it for a bit, "I… just really to touch it."

'It's… so soft…" He thought as his hand lingered on her thigh.

Her eyes looked away while her face got progressively redder, even she could feel some heat from her face. He eventually stopped and placed his arms up, laughing lightly at her reaction.

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again." He said with a happy smile.

She karate chopped his head, "Someday, I swear I'll kill you for this."

"Something wrong?" Jeremy's voice could be heard from behind them.

She abruptly stood up and took the flowers with her, walking out the door without looking back. Jeremy noticed the intense blush on her face and looked back at Aeon, he simply chuckled at him.

Something had clicked in Jeremy's head, still he was not going to say anything about it.

They walked outside, seeing her waiting by a portal she made. The three of them walked through it, this time on the slope of the mountain. Aeon stared at the skies as birds flew past them, the trees covering some of the intense sun rays.

"Where are we?" He asked both of them.

Jeremy explained as Amelia walked ahead of them, "A mountain close to where I used to live. I'm not sure if it has a name."

The three of them began to climb the mountain in silence, the only sounds that filled the forest were birds chirping. The slope was a little steep so it took some strength for Jeremy to climb, yet Amelia and Aeon did not exert much strength.

The mountain was ordinary to say the least. Trees with green leaves that covered the sunlight and let some lights passed through, grass swaying with the brisk wind that blew through every so often. Clear blue skies with white fluffy clouds passing through.

Although ordinary, it was hard to call it dreadful. The quiet was what they needed whether they realised it or not.

She placed a hand on her forehead, Aeon moved forward and stared at her. She closed one of her eyes as she was in pain, still continued walking. He grabbed her arm and opened his jaw, just as he was about to as something, someone grabbed his wrist.

He was dragged until he and Jeremy were on the same path, both of them were pulled closer to someone. The person was taller than Jeremy but shorter than Aeon, once they started to speak all three knew who it was.

"Nice holiday eh? Why not have a picnic too~?" Asura chuckled loudly.

He appeared in his human form, his arms hung around their necks as they leaned on his shoulder. Asura eventually let both of them go although his hands ruffled their hair, making a mess out of it.

"Sura, why are you here?" Aeon widened his eyes at him.

He chuckled and stopped, "It looked like fun, so I want to join."

Despite him saying so, Amelia narrowed her eyes at him. His words were not what he really was here for, yet his usual high-pitched and borderline psychotic laughter managed to hide his intentions. He chuckled loudly again and dragged her to where Mona's grave was.

"I'm not sure why visiting a grave is fun for you," She muttered.

He leaned in close to her, whispering so only they could hear, "Because Aeon's expression will be alluring."

She widened her eyes, her body going limp and letting Asura carry her up the slope. She eventually was the one dragging him up the slope, going faster and faster without looking back. He chuckled and let her do as she wished, noticing her grip on the flowers.

"Don't worry now, I'll give you some time to think it over."

Despite his high-pitched voice, there was a subtle threat laced on it. She knew what he meant even without having listened to his inner thoughts, especially the smile on his lips. She glared at him for a moment, though he took it more as a challenge.

Jeremy and Aeon were confused, incredibly confused. The appearance of Asura, saying something that Amelia was either afraid of or worried about; Her very harsh and direct expression and reaction to it.

"I have a weird feeling about this." Aeon narrowed his eyes on both.

Jeremy remained silent, his eyes holding worry in them. He was unsure how to feel about it since the last encounter with Asura was anything but pleasant.

After walking for another half an hour, they finally made it to the peak of the mountain. Jeremy sat down on the grass before flopping down on it completely, taking in deep breaths while staring at the clear skies. The rest only felt a little exhausted after.

"Amy, can you just wrap us here next time?" Jeremy said between breaths.

She shrugged, "Alright."

"Why did you decide to wrap to the middle of the slope?" Aeon raised his eyebrow.

She moved closer to the grave, "Because I wanted to do some exercise."

The answer, while it made sense, still could not remove the initial block in his head. It just sounded really dumb to Jeremy and Aeon, later having to attribute it to Amelia's random tendencies.

The tombstone had Mona's name engraved on it yet there was not any time written below it. It was placed between two large tree trunks, slight light coming through the gaps of leaves.

She placed the flowers on the tombstone, yet there were some flowers near it as well. The flowers were unique as it swayed even without wind, shining a golden glow that would light up even the darkest skies. They knew what it was, The Flower of Life.

All of them placed their hands together and bowed, except for Asura who stood still and stared at it. Even so, he kept quiet and did not make a sound. It was odd for him to not make noise or talk as if he understood the significance of the deceased in front of them.

"Jeremy~" He walked towards him after a moment.

Jeremy was undoubtedly bewildered by the sudden call, he was not given much time to react or think about it as he was promptly dragged away. Aeon went ahead to stop him, Amelia grabbed his wrist and shook her head.

"Ah… where are… we going…?" He stared up at Asura, fear evident in his voice.

Asura laughed loudly, "I'm not going to kill you, don't worry."

When he heard that, it made him more worried about himself. He still could not stop Asura as he was much stronger than he would ever be, helplessness was felt by simply staring at him.

"He--"

Amelia cut him off, "It was just a chance for me to say something."

"Eh?" He blinked a few times.

She let go of his wrist and turned around, looking at the tombstone again. Her head looked upwards at the light shining down on it, nature giving a warm glow that made it feel alive.

"He's really bad at showing what he wants, even though you know that." She glanced at him.

He stood beside her, his eyes following her line of sight, "He sure is."

"What are you going to tell me?"

She closed her eyes, "Which one do you want to know first, why did she die, or my choice of flowers?"

His eyes widened up when he heard her say that. When presented by options like this, he would choose the lighter route. He understood something, the first one was going to be something important, more so than the latter.

"Forget-me-nots… a really odd option."

He was not wrong since even he would not think of bringing it to the deceased.

Her eyes remained close, her head tilted upwards, "Mona loved it when she was alive. I always wondered why and I never got an actual answer out of her."

Mona's voice rang in her head, "Forget-me-nots. Like the name implied, you would give it to a person to remind them to not forget about you, literally or figuratively. Why I loved it it's because to us…"

"Eventually only the fabrics of space and time will remember our names. We are to be given back to our world, returning the karma that we had done to others in our lifetime. Forget me not, the living and the dead shall never utter our names again. Like everything, simply the passing memories of words will be passed down to the next generation."

She finished the sentence, Mona's voice was saying it as she said it out loud to Aeon. He seemed to understand something as he stared at the tombstone.

"She's… a Goddess."

She explained, "She was an acolyte of the Goddess of Time."

"Wouldn't that make Jeremy inherit some of her powers as well?" He looked behind him.

He could not catch any sight of Jeremy and Asura, the feeling of worry bubbled in his heart. Although seeing Amelia being calm about it all did not make his heart overcome with worry.

But, he knew deep within his heart that he would not like the answer to the first option.

She took in a deep breath before speaking, "I killed her."

The air grew tense like an infinite black void of emotions swirling them in. It got suffocating, so suffocating that he thought he was not breathing. This swirl of emotions was not one he knew how to deal with.

For some reason, he looked to her gaze for a way to release himself out of this rabbit hole.

Her eyes remained dull, but she did not look bored out of her mind like she usually would. This was much different. For the first time, he had seen genuine emotion in her eyes.

It was distant, protecting herself from something. That never really felt different as many times he felt like he could not reach out to her, her figure always so out of reach. This time, it was not out of sheer fear.

It was out of an all consuming guilt, one that clearly never left her consciousness.

She continued, "When I was 19, she wrote a letter to me. Even with how vague she was being, I could still understand the meanings in her letter. She wanted me to duel with her, killing her by the end of it."

Her eyes looked to the ground, her body froze on the spot, "Because she did not want to die by the hands of Zarnia, she chose for me to kill her."

"I never understood why it was me of all people. But…"

She closed her mouth and closed her eyes. She sighed as the memories of what transpired afterwards formed in her head.

The moon light shone into the small kitchen, showing a figure holding a knife. Amelia was walking by to grab a glass of water, the shadow alarmed her immediately.

Jeremy, about 20 at the time, was holding a kitchen knife. She had sharpened it this morning, despite already anticipating such actions to happen beforehand, still did so. She stood beside of him, alerting him of her presence but not saying a word.

His eye bags were deep, probably had not slept for days. His fingers gripped on it and turned around, pointing it directly at her. Part of her was glad that he pointed it at her.

However, part of her knew the outcome.

"Why…" His voice was deep but hoarse.

She did not speak, which only caused him to get more frustrated. He moved closer, his hands trembling in anger. He gritted his teeth and looked into her eyes.

"WHY?!" His screams were painful to listen to.

She sighed and remained calm, "Because that's what she wanted."

He moved it closer, until the blade pointed at her chest. She did not budge, only staring into his frustrated gaze. Her gaze had never changed which fueled his anger.

"You could've just stopped her… WHY DIDN'T YOU?" He gripped so tightly that some of his bones were showing.

"I can't. There was nothing I could do."

He shouted back, "YOU COULD HAVE JUST SPARED HER?!"

"If I did, it would only be much worse. That's why she wanted me to kill her instead." She shook her head.

"ARE YOU THAT HEARTLESS?! TO THE POINT WHERE YOU WOULD KILL MY MOTHER??" He managed to shout even as his voice was getting more hoarse.

Something dragged him back to reality. He stared into her eyes, ones that were usually void. His rage was calmed by the subtle shakes in them once he said those words, even if she chose not to answer them.

He always thought that Amelia never considered Mona anything more than a passerby. He was proved wrong.

"Is this why you chose to point a knife at me?" She mumbled.

Once he realised his decision, fear began to set in. Yet, he was not given a chance to retract his actions. Instead, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward.

The knife slowly dug into her skin, until it started to bleed. Yet she did not slow down, she continued to push it deeper and deeper. Her mouth dripped blood, while her clothes were stained with it.

"Amy…?" He could only stare at her.

She again did not answer him. Somehow, her lips had formed a small smile. This was the first time seeing them having emotions. It was delightful, only if it were not for this situation.

He was not sure why she was smiling. But the shock of it all knocked him out, his mind wondered why she smiled.

She smiled and turned around, "I suppose, I always knew why."

He was still trapped in a swirl of emotions he understood but could not get through. Was he angry at Amelia killing someone she cherished so dearly? Of course. After all, he would have done all he could to save.

Yet, he could not deny that helplessness she must have felt being in that position.

She began walking away, leaving him behind. She was not sure where she was going, he was not sure if he was going to find her at all. He stood still on the spot, his mind still trying to process it all.

Her smile however, was the thing that caught his attention the most.

Just like Jeremy back then, he did not know the reason behind her smile. Perhaps it was a way to cope with the situation, perhaps it was a sign of relief. Maybe… It was because she found comfort in people expressing their truest feelings, as cruel as it may be.

He did not know. He was not sure if he wanted to know. But… he could not help but ponder.

"Huh. A little underwhelming."

Asura reappeared in front of Aeon which knocked him out of his daze. He stared at him for a moment before looking around, trying to figure out if Jeremy was near both of them.

Asura slapped his back, "Jeremy is with Amy right now. Don't worry."

"Besides… I have some personal dealings with you." He chuckled and motioned him to follow.

Aeon was sceptical, his eyes narrowed at Asura. He still followed him along since he was unfamiliar with the surroundings, even if there was this feeling that told him to stay far away from Asura.

"Aeon~ You already confessed right?" He looked back at him and smiled.

He nodded, "What about it?"

"So you think you can do it?" He hummed while saying every word.

His eyes widened up and stared at him, "I would like to think so."

They continued to walk down the slope, even with the fresh, untouched mountain air could not dampen the atmosphere between them. It got suffocating quick as something dominated the calming presence.

"Think? Only think?" Asura's voice got really deep.

Aeon knew something was off immediately as he summoned his weapon to his hand. But, he could not feel it in his hands. He looked over to his wrist, it was bleeding. His hand was severed cleanly on the ground.

Asura's hand came by quickly and slammed him to the nearest tree, the pain was bearable for him but it would have surely knocked someone out. Asura grabbed his neck and dug his claws in, drawing out some blood.

He tilted his head, "Don't you think that's too arbitrary?"

"What--"

Aeon did not have much chance to speak as Asura dug his claws deeper into his neck. In his restrained state, Aeon could not overpower Asura. Asura clearly knew that the limit breaker was on his weapon so he knocked it out of his hand.

His voice was deep, threatening to kill him right then and there if he did not like anything he said. Aeon always thought that Asura's voice sounded a little too high-pitched like something he had carefully constructed so as to make people miss his actual demeanor.

"You know nothing yet pretend like you know everything. You really are a naive little puppy." His claws remained dug in his neck.

Aeon wanted to struggle and tried to break out of this chock, simply knowing that Asura enjoyed eating souls while they were in some sort of intense negative emotions warned him out of it.

"Not even going to struggle?" Asura dug his claws deeper into his neck.

At this point, Aeon knew that he was going to die. His wrist was still bleeding profusely along with his neck, he was running out of breath and felt like he was going to pass out soon. Even so, he still did not try to hurt Asura.

"Because I'll hurt you that way…" Aeon managed to cough out.

His eyes began to close, "The last… thing I want… is to see… Amelia die… or get hurt by… my hands…"

Asura smiled, his deep voice remained and he tilted his head completely, "Then I wonder what your soul tastes like… That billion years of pain, trauma and despair… Ah…"

Aeon began to lose consciousness, he could no longer hear what Asura had said. His eyes were closing as the taste of iron filled his mouth.

"Jeremy. Use this."

Amelia handed him a cloth that she materialised. He stared at it, confusion written all over his face. She sighed and grabbed it, wrapping it around his eyes before tying it up.

"Uh… what are you doing?" His head turned from side to side.

"Just, don't take it off." She shook her head.

Aeon breathed in deep breaths once he was dropped to the ground. He placed his hand over the deep wound, his eyes fluttered open and stared at Asura. The sight only fueled the butterflies in his stomach.

Asura's mouth was dripping black blood everywhere. The grass it touched immediately withered, the soil below unusable for a while. He placed a hand over his mouth and gasped.

"Amelia…" He mumbled.

His body began to crack like broken glass, his skin began to show visible scars everywhere. His mouth still bled profusely, making him only able to taste and smell his own blood.

He eventually just disappeared, leaving behind withered grass where he once stood.

Aeon did not care too much about his wounds as he could easily take care of it. He grabbed his severed hand and placed it close to his wrist, after a bit it stayed there. The wounds on his neck began to close up slowly.

He was gasping for air while running, but it did not affect his speed.

When he found them, he was horrified by the sight in front of him.

Amelia was being carried in Jeremy's arms, her sword stained with blood on the ground near them. Jeremy had tears gathered around his eyes as he stared. Even if the stab wound on her chest began to close up.

"Aeon…" He noticed him after hearing a loud gasp.

He shook his head and grabbed Amelia's body from Jeremy's hand. He could not feel any resemblance of heat, beating heart and breathing from her body. His eyebrows scrunched as he carried her and began running.

The sword disappeared by itself as Jeremy followed them along. Aeon managed to make a portal, warping them to Jeremy's home immediately.

He placed her body down on the couch, seeing black stitches stitched up the wound on her face. She still was not breathing which worried Aeon, his heart began to beat rapidly. His hands trembled while staring at her.

Jeremy placed a hand on his shoulder, "She'll be fine…"

He stayed beside her cold body and was not going to move at all. Jeremy grabbed a cup of water and handed it over to Aeon. He took a deep breath and sipped the water.

He calmed down a little more once her chest began to rise up and down. Her fingers had some warmth returned to them though she still did not move at all. Jeremy managed to drag Aeon away and sit on the dining table.

Jeremy grabbed a fresh cup of apple juice from the counter, sitting across from him and drank it. They remained silent, no one dared to speak a word to relieve the air.

They remained silent for what felt like an eternity until Jeremy spoke up.

"When… did you meet Amelia?" He spoke while looking at Aeon.

Aeon still looked away though he replied, "About… a few thousands years ago? I can't really remember since it's been a while. I can say that I met her after she was a Guardian Goddess."

Jeremy nodded, "Ah, that has been a while too… Time has been passing by so quickly…"

They knew that they could not end the conversation there, falling back to an awkward silence. Aeon could tell that Jeremy was trying to distract him and learn more about him as well. He chose to continue their conversation.

"You have known Amelia for a very long time?" Aeon smiled lightly.

"I've known her since we were children. I could confidently call her my childhood friend." He chuckled.

He continued, "I'd like to think that I know her very well. The fact is, I don't really know her… as well as I hoped."

Aeon's eyes glanced over to the couch, "You're not wrong. Even I was curious about this mysterious person when I first met her."

"So your first impressions of her was…" He stopped and raised his eyebrows.

Aeon scratched his head, "Not very good actually. Since she was really rude, cold and distant. She was, however, honest and straightforward, which can be a bad thing."

"That's probably why I wanted to learn about her so badly. It's the same with any that I've come across." He continued.

Jeremy tilted his head, "How old are you?"

"Ah… I've been living for so long I've forgotten. Maybe… a few billion?" He placed his hand on his chin.

Jeremy's eyes widened, "Wah… Aeon, are you a God?"

"Perhaps, even my mother is not quite sure." He laughed.

There was this lingering thought in his head once his mind was able to process over the emotional rollercoaster he went through. He was not sure if Jeremy wanted to answer, still curiosity killed the man.

"Do… Do you hold any hatred for Amelia?"

Initially, Jeremy did not answer. He gripped his and looked at it, his eyes looking downwards thinking about his question. Aeon was about to open his mouth yet he was cut off instead.

"Not exactly." He sighed.

He continued to explain, "I… still sometimes

feel the frustration when we visit the grave. But I understand that she was only fulfilling mom's wish. She wished to protect me by making someone else kill her instead, so they won't pursue me."

Aeon asked, "But wouldn't her death mean people coming for you anyways?"

Jeremy shook his head, "According to what little Amelia told me, the Council only wanted mom to die, I was going to be captured as a hostage of sorts. If she was to die to someone else, it meant karma doing its job and they would not interfere further."

"I'm now only living off my life here, where most days are peaceful and quiet." He looked out the window.

His answer placed a smile on Aeon's lips. He was relieved to hear it all.

"I can't believe that two people talking can be so annoying."

Amelia's voice was heard by both as they rushed to the living room. She pushed herself up slowly while placing a hand on her head, having her left eye closed. She stared at them and sighed.

"Yes hi, I'm still alive." She shook her head.