Elysia in Another World

Chapter 25: System Error P3
~25.3~
*****

Adele carried Kye to their residence at the palace in Arslade. They always used a door-shaped portal to go to the council chamber, so it wasn’t a long trip. She gently laid her down. She had fallen asleep in his arms along the way, and she didn’t want to wake her after what she went through. Alethea helped Sanae over to the bed, where she laid down with her sister. Sanae was desperately worried for Kye and didn’t want to leave her side, despite having also experienced the same pain.

Alethea and Adelle then joined Michelle, Layla, and Hannah at the table on the far side of the room before saying anything.

“I’ve never seen her like this.”

“I still can’t believe the fear I saw in her eyes,” Hannah said. “For such a strong girl - one who immediately leaps into danger without a second thought - to so adamantly refuse to do something out of fear... I’m baffled.”

“Their hair...” Alethea said. Kye’s and Sanae’s hair color faded from blonde to white.

“Stress induced hair color loss,” Hannah muttered.

“Just like... when she split.”

“You remember that?” Michelle asked. “I don’t have memories of other worldlines.”

“I soul dived after figuring out silver mana and dug my way into them. I remember everything, even the Kingdom of Alexandria, but it feels like there are some holes.” She shook her head. “That’s not important right now. Their hair is turning white, just like before. Elysia’s hair was originally blonde, but the stress from the soul split turned it white.”

Layla said nothing and simply pulled up a chair next to the bed. Kye’s breathing was uneven and fast, as if having a nightmare. Sanae wasn’t as bad as Kye, but her heart rate was higher than normal. Layla wrapped them with healing magic and readied herself to stay like that for as long as necessary.

“What can we do?” Alethea asked. “This is uncharted territory for us.”

“And that’s saying something,” Michelle added. “Even back when you two were-”

She stopped short when Alethea shot her a sudden glare.

Hannah shook her head. “Support her as best you can. I’ll prescribe therapy sessions later. She’ll likely need some time before talking about it.”

“You think it’s mental?”

Hannah nodded. “Without a doubt. I’ve spent much of my ten million years working with LGBT patients. Many of them, especially trans patients,” she eyed Alethea, “benefit from therapy. Sometimes just talking about it is enough. I expanded into broader therapy and saw any patient that needed help, regardless of background. This should be no surprise to you lot, but after ten million years... there’s not much you don’t see in your profession. I’ve done basically everything medical at this point, not just mental care.”

Alethea hesitantly replied, “Hannah, you have an advantage we don’t.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“We’ve lived billions of lives. One million lives alone adds up to several tens of millions of years or more, and some of those lives can be very long. We’ve got you beat by such a large degree it’s not even remotely close. Yet, you have lived your ten-plus million years as one person and have grown and mastered your trade to a degree none of us have ever done, at least as mortals. Only Shi-chan has lived a life longer than that. Elise Arbell lived for two hundred million years. Our immortal lives before are different altogether, but when you get past our immortality and our mana, we’re really not much different from regular people. There are many things we’ve mastered via repetition - living the same several decades of life many times over - but there’s only one thing we have truly mastered... killing.”

Hannah glanced between her, Adele, and Michelle. Both confirmed her words. Before she could continue, the door opened and in came Evelyn. She was present at the royal council, but she had frozen up when she heard Kye’s screams.

“You finally deign to-” Alethea began.

“Don’t start,” Evelyn cut her off coldly. She closed the door and began walking toward the bed. She snapped her fingers along the way and the world shifted around them. The walls and ceiling faded away, the floor changed to that of white marble, and her appearance changed to her true self.

“W-What?!” Hannah couldn’t believe her eyes.

“What are you doing?! There’s a mortal here that doesn’t know about you!”

Eve looked back. “Hannah, I’m Eve the Primordial.” She shrugged. “There, she knows.”

“I...” Hannah muttered, her face hiding none of her shock.

Eve sat down on the bed next to Kye. Layla shot her a cold look, but Eve paid it no mind. “I was frozen in terror as I listened to her screams. I thought I had been distancing myself from all of you because I didn’t know if I would choose to maintain my identity or act... I told you as much. As it turns out, the problem was neither of those things. It seems I distanced myself out of a subconscious fear of seeing any of you in pain.” She looked at the sleeping pair and casted healing magic of her own. In mere moments, her body was completely healed, and her breathing eased. “I am not allowed to meddle with their mind, but I can heal their body. Physically, there’s no longer anything wrong with them.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Hannah said after giving her a genuine look of, ‘Are you serious right now?’

“Elaborate.”

“You said you’re Eve.” Hannah looked around. “You’ve clearly moved us to a normally impossible location, and you’re speaking to Alethea as though you’re her superior. I don’t think you’re lying, but are you not omnipotent?”

Eve sighed and began explaining. “No. I’m not omnipotent. Elysia must finish her mission and our problem must be solved. In all intents and purposes, I am all-powerful, but even we ancients have politics and I cannot freely wield the power of The Primordial. Only The Almighty and The Creator can freely wield such power.”

“What do you mean by that?” Hannah asked. “Politics? The Almighty?” She looked at Kye. “She is The Creator, then?”

Eve sighed again, not wanting to explain things, but she relented. Before she said anything, she casted a strange spell on everyone present. “That was soul-level contract magic. Just by hearing my words from here out, you automatically agree to the terms, which are to keep this to yourselves. Of course, you may discuss it amongst yourselves, but with no others.”

“Fine,” Layla said. “What are you on about?”

“The reason Elysia sealed her memories was to hide something from herself while working toward an ultimate goal. A goal that determines the fate of Elysium.”

“Okay. And you’re going to tell us?”

She nodded. “Elysia is my biological child. That itself is not a big secret. You all knew as much. Elysia was my firstborn, Zane was my second, and I didn’t have Azriel and Ezra until after Elysium was created.” Eve reached out and took hold of Kye’s left hand. There was a single tear in Eve’s right eye, something Layla didn’t miss.

“What are you so hesitant to say?” Layla asked. “You clearly have the same emotions we do. You love her no differently than I do.”

“Yes.”

“Yet, until recently, you’ve remained distanced at all times,” Hannah said.

Alethea added, “She’s been like that even before Elysia’s first transmigration... ever since...”

Eve stood up and waved her hand in the air. The sea of stars around them changed, replaced by an endless expanse of civilization. Tall white and gold structures as far as the eyes could see with gargantuan cylinder-shaped structures in the far distance spread out equal distant from each other. Behind Eve stood a large structure resembling a stone palace. The white stone platform seamlessly melded into the front of the structure atop a balcony. There were even people scattered about below.

“This is Athas, the capital of Elysium. This is the distant past, long ago before any worldlines.” Standing at the edge of the balcony stood a blonde-haired woman wearing a white suit with gold adornments. Next to her was a pink-haired woman in a silver dress.

Alethea smiled at the sight.

“You all know Elysia created Elysium. She has served as its king, incumbent to this day. She was supposed to leave Elysium and the other planes of the afterlife to function autonomously, but she loved her people so much that she stayed here.”

*****

Revision: 2024-8-15