Outburst

Silence

Dead silence descended upon the room as Eve said his piece.

The GMO man's fist curled up and the veins in his forehead popped out.

Melina stared at Eve with a poker face as if to analyze and reevaluate him again.

She sighed. "It makes sense why you are so different from that time. The apocalypse changed everyone but I didn't know how much you changed."

'He almost feels like a normal person. After all, who would believe a person who just shows up at your house and spits random crap?

But he is also different… If I'm not wrong then he has been sheltered his whole life as of now. That would mean I'm a stranger, an anomaly in his life yet he remains so calm.

At least calm to the point of not screaming.

And his reaction is weird too. I'm technically the first female he ever talked to but he is not interested in me at all. Where is the blush? Where are the hormones? He is a teenager right now, isn't he?

Tsk, what a waste. I spent a good portion of my own soul power enhancing my looks for just this occasion.'

Melina was freed from her state of concentration when she heard the man next to him crack his knuckles.

"Calm down Arco, He is not the same person that killed you." She commanded him.

"I get that." The GMO man, whose name was Arco growled in a deep voice although not as deep nor beast-like as the voice in Eve's dream.

"I have been thinking, what do we need him for? He already served his purpose and we got his soul power so why shouldn't we take care of him right now to avoid future disasters?" He explained his thoughts to Melina, causing her to frown and making Eve facepalm.

'Take care of me right now? What is he implying?

…

That can't be it, right? Who suddenly goes into someone else's house, claims to know him from the future, and then threatens to kill him? In broad daylight no less.

This has to be a joke.'

'They interrupted my sleep, made Charlotte go into my room, and now this.'

He started to feel annoyed and something deep within him shared the same emotions.

It wanted blood, it wanted to feel its claws rip through flesh and it wanted the reward that came with each kill.

Unfortunately for it, its feelings didn't reach Eve.

"I don't think you are supposed to say that out loud, Arco." Melina sighed.

"Look, I get that you are angry at him but try seeing it logically. 

Without him, the whole reversing time thing wouldn't work. You might say that if Eve didn't exist, another Ravager would have been born nonetheless but you are missing the point.

Without his intense bloodlust and addiction to the acquisition of soul power, who knows how long will it take for the strongest to appear? He contributed the most, by hunting down literally everyone. 

I was already at my limit back then, Arco. A year longer and I would have died and we wouldn't get this do-over.

It would be the most jackass thing to do if we kill him right now."

Eve carefully listened to her speech. He was not moved nor impressed. To him, it all seemed like an act to get him to trust Melina.

He wanted to see how far Melina would go and once he had his fill of her bullshit, he would kick her out.

Kicking the GMO man was a different story but he figured he could manage. This was the empire, where the elites lived. A behavior this freaky would not be tolerated.

That was the case but if either one of Arco and Melina turned out to be rich, richer than Jonathan then Eve would consider his life over.

Arco shook his head in exasperation.

"Melina, did the use of soul power give you dementia? You do remember that he betrayed humanity by selling the remaining survivors out to the cultists?

He does not deserve equal treatment, he will kill us all the moment he has the chance to." He roared in anger.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Melina snapped back at him.

"He became that way because of the apocalypse, the very thing we are trying to avoid.

Sure, the universe could be wired to become like that and we can't prevent it, but we can at least manage the chaos that comes with it.

Nobody should get shunned because they were forced to kill in self-defense, alright? He won't become the Ravager if we won't let him kill. It is that simple.

Don't make me remind you that you are not innocent either. You killed to get stronger too and it just happened to be that Eve was better at it so stop sulking and do your fucking job as my bodyguard."

Silence visited the room once again.

Her sudden outburst surprised Eve and silenced Arco.

'She is either a really good actress or this whole thing might have some sort of legitimacy in it.

I'm going with the actress one.'

Melina took a deep breath and exhaled, then fixed her posture.

"I understand that you think this is bullshit." She continued as if nothing had happened.

"And you have a clear reason to think like that. After all, suddenly barging into your house and then saying that you will commit universe-scale homicide and genocide seems out of reach in your wildest dreams.

But I can assure you that everything I said is true. Allow me to show it to you."

She got up from the couch, walked up to Eve, and asked;

"This procedure will hurt and it will hurt like hell. You can either choose to trust me now or prepare for the pain."

She stood still for a second and waited for his response.

Eve shrugged. What is the worst that could happen? He could always call for assault when he called the police later on.

They deserve that much for the disturbance they have caused today.

Eve calmly observed her as she raised her right hand and placed it on his head.

Then out of nowhere, Eve got chills down his spine.

'Is it just me or does she seem more dangerous now?'

The pressure that Eve had gotten used to over the course of their little talk had become unbearably heavy and he found it hard to breathe.

'The hell, if I survive this then I am committing homicide right here and right now.'

He closed his eyes as the pressure got more and more intense.

Sweat formed on Melina's forehead as her actions required a great deal of endurance to be executed.

Eve felt stinging pain everywhere on his body. It was hard to pinpoint the exact location of the pain and the exact organ it hurt and it clouded his thinking.

It was almost as if his body was not the thing that was hurting but something else.

The pain got fiercer and harsher. It felt like he was getting stabbed in every pore of his body yet there was an invisible barrier keeping them from piercing through.

The pain paralyzed him and he could do nothing but wish it was over.

In the end, the invisible barrier was broken, and Eve cried out in pain as memories of the future rushed in.