[Zero's Pov] - *James's Pov*
*Click*
Entering the apartment that I had seen so many times before, I somehow felt a rush of emotions crash over me. This was the place where I had constructed a base for me to stand on during my new life on Tella, the place where my dreams had been built.
But also a place where they had been crushed.
Thinking back at it, it was such an incredibly unlikely scenario that I almost wanted to say it was the work of a god. The fact that I had gotten attacked by a wyvern on the same day that Samantha attacked me was so bizarre that it was hard to find another explanation.
Withdrawing my things out of the now water storage inside of me, that I for the record had no idea how it worked, I let my mind wander as I placed the computer on the desk and other important things where they belonged.
'...'
It didn't take long until I realized... I didn't own anything...
Clothes were unnecessary as I still had the suit that Loki gifted me and it wasn't like I had any precious belongings to take with me. 'Ah! There is that!' Suddenly remembering, I brought out the one thing that I had taken with me from the church, a gift I had gotten from who I now called my father.
I had no idea how she had made it happen, but I had gotten a small picture of myself when I was little, happily laughing while hugging Aksel. Or when Zero was little...
"Sniff... Guh...!"
'What's happening?!'
For some reason, tears started running down my cheeks, as I was thinking back on the life I hadn't lived. Memories of me crying in a corner, with Dad desperately trying to soothe me, telling me it was all for the greater good.
*Thud!*
My legs faltered, making me fall down on my knees, holding the picture close to my chest. A mix of happiness and sadness quickly overtook my being, with me now smiling while desperately trying to pour out all the tears that I had built up over the years.
'It was so hard... No! Fuck, no! I didn't even live that life! It wasn't even real!'
Even though I was trying hard to regain control of my mind, the tears wouldn't stop running; my brain confused by the clash of two different personas. 'Is this what Loki was talking about? Was Theia's original plan to just eradicate my original personality and replace me with Zero?'
If not for the insane amounts of different emotions I was feeling, I was sure that I would be able to come up with an answer, or at least manage to make a connection to Loki and ask him. Unfortunately, life wasn't always that easy. Even more so when another distraction suddenly appeared.
*Knock, knock!*
Turning my head to my door, I had no clue who it could be. Even weirder was that in my confused state, I for some reason managed to get up on my feet, now slowly making my way there.
'No, stop! Fuck! Don't open that fucking door! Not like this!'
It was as if someone else was controlling my body, and this someone was no doubt a fucking moron. Opening the door, I was met by the sight of a huge chest, and it didn't take long until I knew who had somehow managed to find out where my apartment was.
"Ah! I'm sorry! Did I come at a bad time?"
Looking up, the familiar face of the one who still believed in me was found, her expression flustered by the sudden appearance of a crying Zero. The one person I could confidently call my friend, even if things had gotten quite weird during this last year.
"Ah?! What are you doing?!"
Before I knew it, I had thrown myself forward, allowing myself to feel some kind of relief in the softness of the large woman. Without even removing my head, my body uttered some stupid shit, "I'm sorry... I just... Is it okay? Just for a moment?"
"Haaa..."
With a sigh, she put her hand on my head, gently stroking my white hair, "It's fine. Let's go inside."
==========
After a long time of Sophie sitting on the floor, leaning back on my bed, and me having my head in her lap, my mind finally cleared up. It was as if I had some sort of episode, an episode that lasted a lot longer than I wanted to.
Now sitting on opposite sides of my kitchen table, I was having a genuine bout of extreme shame. There was no acting needed for me to feel like I wanted to die right now.
With a cup of tea in both of our hands, Sophie was the one to finally speak after the incredibly uncomfortable incident. "So? What was that all about?"
'Shit! Fuck! I don't know, woman! What am I supposed to say? My mind got completely wrecked because two different gods have used me as a guinea pig?'
I had always believed myself to be quite good at acting in the moment, but because of the insane situation, my mind was still a mess. Still, it was a chance to fix the earlier meeting with her, to fix the image she had of me in her mind.
So I just dove in, 'Theia... No, Jesus takes the wheel...'
Putting on the brightest smile I could muster, I spoke. Words on words flowed out of my mouth, every continuing sentence making me feel like I was more and more insane. After what felt like an eternity, we had finished our conversation, a conversation that was concluded by her hugging me tightly while shedding large tears.
'What the fuck did I just do?!'
****
[Sophie's Pov]
It was quite ironic, how I was now standing in front of the same door that I had stood before so many times before. The door I had entered before having stupid conversations with a goblin while drinking tea.
'I really was an asshole back then...'
Though I understood that I acted like that because James was the one person I could act comfortably around, and the only person I dared to get out my frustrations with, I still couldn't defend how haughty I was.
'Get it together! We must try and appease the child of god!'
Clenching my fist, I quickly got my head out of the gutter, knowing that I had something more important to think of right now.
*Knock! Knock! Knock!*
A wave of nervousness overcame me as I stood there and waited for the door to open, both because it was the room of the child of god, but also because it reminded me of waiting for James.
'What's taking him so long...?'
*Click*
Just as I was about to give up, thinking that he might be on and about, the door opened and the small, white-haired youth appeared. But something was off. Instead of the haughty youth I had 'met' on the grounds, I was met by someone who looked to be in so much pain that it wouldn't be a surprise if he was gone tomorrow.
"Ah! I'm sorry! Did I come at a bad time?"
Then, something even weirder happened. Instead of him telling me to leave, he lunged into me, his frail arms desperately trying to hold onto my wide frame, with his head landing right below my breasts.
"Ah?! What are you doing?!"
Child of god or not, it wasn't exactly comfortable having someone I'd only met once suddenly hug me out of nowhere, even more so as his tears were continually soaking my uniform. However, when his shaky voice came out, I knew that it wasn't anything like that.
"I'm sorry... I just... Is it okay? Just for a moment?"
'He... He is just a kid...'
A 17-year-old on earth wasn't someone anyone would call an adult, and somehow I had forgotten that it should be the same for Tella. Putting my hand on his head, I gently stroked the illustrious hair, feeling just how small the boy in front of me was.
"It's fine. Let's go inside."
Although I don't know how, he somehow ended up lying with his head in my lap, the tears running down his cheeks like a never-ending waterfall. 'Just what could make someone feel so much pain?'
After some time, he regained enough stability for us to get seated at the kitchen table, with me making some tea for us to enjoy. However much I wanted to just leave, I felt like I had to ask him, "So? What was that all about?"
Flinching at my sudden question, it didn't take long until he showed me the image of someone in so much pain that he didn't know what to do with it. Speaking with a bright smile while his eyes were still shedding the occasional tear, he said something that finally made me understand what was happening.
"I'm sorry... I hope that you can keep this a secret but... I'm dying."