52 The First Supper
"I had this coming for years…" Elizabeth thought to herself as she approached Alina, who was still doing her best to contain Aleksei.
Elizabeth could not help but feel proud as she saw what her sister had accomplished.
But she also felt shame as she remembered that is was her own fault that Alina became like this.
"I took a risk, and I failed big time. I really am an idiot." Elizabeth thought to herself as she looked back at Alex, who still looked uncomfortable. Elizabeth tried to not frown as she did her best to not glare at Alex.
Even though Elizabeth had already come to terms with her death, she still could not help but feel angry towards Alex.
After all, this guy is the one who bluntly told her to kill herself along with Aleksei.
"Sis!"
"Wifey!"
Elizabeth's reverie was broken when she heard Alina and Ricardo calling out to her, with both of their faces looking extremely happy.
"Ugh…" Elizabeth felt more pain and guilt as she saw their expressions. It was hard for her to face them right now, after all the pain that she had caused them.
Even just the mere act of looking at Alina was already enough to make Elizabeth choke in grief. As for Ricardo, Elizabeth still had some mixed feelings for him, but she still felt guilty for making him miserable for a long time.
"...…"
With her death approaching her quickly, Elizabeth knew that she had no way to ask for Alina and Ricardo's forgiveness right now.
Talking to them for a longer time will just make things worse, especially with a time limit ticking down on them.
The best that Elizabeth can do is to say her goodbyes to them.
"I'm back, Alina." Elizabeth said as she felt more of her mind being slowly corroded by the virus. "Have you been well all this time?"
"Muuu… Sis… Waahh!!!" Alina's face started to turn red as tears started to fall down to her chin.
"My, my. You are still as adorable as always." Elizabeth said, not looking surprised to see Alina crying in front of her.
To Elizabeth, Alina was always her adorable little sister who will come crying to her when she needs her help.
"Hush, hush. Don't cry now. Big sister is already healed, ok?" Elizabeth said as she slowly hugged Alina. "Everything will be fine now."
"Weally?" Alina replied blearily as she wiped away the tears on her face. "You have a way to defeat the afwo guy?"
"I have a way to defeat him." Elizabeth replied firmly as she tried to hide the sadness on her face. "Leave everything to big sister, ok?'
"Ok, sis." That was the last thing that Alina could say as the paralysis took over her body, rendering her unable to move at all.
Alina already reached the time limit for her power-up, thus her paralysis.
But even though Alina was paralyzed, her mind can still work, which allowed her to talk to Elizabeth through their brainwaves.
This led to a private, telepathic conversation between the two sisters.
"Sis, can you tell me what you are about to do?" Alina mentally inquired as she and Elizabeth saw the space ball slowly decompressing in front of them.
Even with Alina's powerup gone, some traces of her power were still placed one the space ball, meaning that there are still some seconds left before Aleksei can get out.
From the looks of it, there are still 30 seconds before the whole ball disappears, which meant that there are still 30 seconds before Aleksei could come out.
Elizabeth ignored the thumping sounds coming out from the space ball as she replied to her mental conversation with Alina.
"I cannot tell you the answer to that. Just trust me, ok?" Elizabeth said as she brushed off some of Alina's stray hair. "Hmmm… you really have grown to be quite a beauty. I am sure Alex enjoys your 'company' way too much."
Even when she was paralyzed, Alina's blush was still enough to make Elizabeth delighted.
However, that blush disappeared, as Alina's face suddenly turned pale, as if she suddenly realized something horrendous.
Elizabeth felt her blood running cold as she saw the pale look on Alina's face. Alina will only look like this if she discovered something horrifying to her.
In their current situation, the only horrifying thing that Alina could discover is…"
"Sis, ar-ar-are you sacrificing yourself?" Alina stutteringly asked in their mental conversation, with Elizabeth feeling the fear and disbelief in Alina's words. "Sis, tell me that you are not doing that!"
"….."
"Sis!" This time, Alina's words were laced with panic, as she seemed to have realized that her guess was right. "Sis, no!"
"I'm sorry Alina, but this is the best that I can do…" Elizabeth said as tears poured out of her eyes.
It obstructed her vision, but Elizabeth did not care.
She's here to say her farewell to Alina, and she will not botch it up.
"I am doomed to die already." Elizabeth hurriedly said as she saw Alina's face turning more and more pale. "There is no way for me to live through this."
"My mind… it has fused so tightly with the World Diagram, so tight that any damage done to the World Diagram will also damage me too." Elizabeth said as she wiped her own tears away. "Once the virus eats up all parts of the World Diagram that was fused with me, I will immediately die."
"No…" Alina sounded so lost and so grief-stricken right now. Elizabeth tried her best to be not rattled by her emotions as she continued talking.
"Alina, there is nothing that you can do right now to let me survive… I only have 5 minutes left to live… If I do nothing, I will die and you will die too. But if I make a move right now, I will be the only one dead. You and your boyfie will survive. That… is the most logical way to win."
"F**k logic! I want you to stay, Sis!" Alina replied with fear and anger present in her words. "We can still do something to help you! We can-"
"Shush…" Elizabeth said as she shook her head while wearing a serene expression on her face. "I have made up my mind already. There is no way for you to stop me now. Just lay down on your bed, and let me do my job, ok?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"I hate you Sis!" Alina finally said as her body trembled involuntarily. Alina did not waste her time as she decisively cut off her mental connection with Elizabeth. "I hate you Sis!"
Even though Alina explicitly said showed her 'anger' to her sister, Elizabeth could see that Alina was still lying to herself.
Alina will still love Elizabeth, no matter what happens. That fact is just an undisputable as the Physics Laws.
But Elizabeth chose to not point that out, as she realized that this is better than Alina pleading her to not leave.
"Yes, you should hate me. After all, I have been a bad sister to you." Elizabeth muttered to herself as she endured the extreme sadness and grief that is tearing her apart right now.
"Ricardo, I am sorry, but this is the last time that we will see each other." Elizabeth said as she gave an apologetic smile to her husband. "Find a good boyfriend, ok?"
Elizabeth did not wait for Ricardo's reply as she snapped her fingers, triggering her Strong Space Manipulation.
Using her space manipulation, she teleported Alex, Alina, Ricardo, Lord Gallius, and Clint away from her location.
All of these people were teleported right inside Clint's house, where his wife and children were all waiting.
Elizabeth did not pry on what happened to them next as she focused her gaze on the space ball.
Elizabeth could sense Aleksei slowly coming out of the space ball, with his glowing body shining everywhere.
"Here we go, viva amiga." Elizabeth muttered to herself as she flew towards the shocked Aleksei, whose half of his body was still trapped in the space ball.
"Boop."
Their collision, which signified the future of the Esper World, did not produce anything significant at all, not even a tiny explosion.
********************
"Release me, you b**ch!" This is the third time that Elizabeth heard Aleksei cursing out to her in a span of just a second. "You don't know what you are doing!"
"You think I do not know what I am doing?" Eliabeth scoffed as she stared at livid Aleksei. "I am saving the world!"
"Saving the world my ass!" Alesksei replied angrily as he glared at Elizabeth murderously. "Get out of my mind!"
"Sorry, but I cannot do that." Elizabeth replied as she shook her head. "We are now both infected by the virus, so even if I left, you will still die."
"!!!"
Because both Elizabeth and Aleksei were able to fuse with the World Diagram, Elizabeth was able to use this connection to infiltrate Aleksei's mind.
With her fearless attitude, Elizabeth decided to spend the last moments of her life here, inside the mind of her fated enemy.
Once inside his mind, Elizabeth immediately deployed some of the virus eating her body towards Aleksei.
Even if Aleksei fused with the Durability Property of the World Diagram, in the end, it is still a program, something that Alex's computer virus can destroy.
"Nooo!!!" Aleksei seemed to have realized what happened to him, as he started to clutch his head in agony. His eyes went wide with anger and defeat as he knew that it was also the end for him too.
"I can't die here!" Aleksei roared as he glared at Elizabeth. "I still have to revive Victoria!"
"Hmm?" After hearing this, Elizabeth tilted her head as she scoured Aleksei's mind for anything related about Victoria.
With Elizabeth inside Aleksei's mind, Elizabeth was able to literally see all of Aleksei's memories about Victoria.
After seeing these memories, Elizabeth naturally did what a rule-breaker like her will do.
She did some unconsented memory viewing.
****************
Elizabeth watched with fascination as she saw a thin, wiry man walking across a park with a beautiful woman.
Both of them looked happy, with the wiry man's afro hair swaying happily in the air. The woman wore a dazzling smile on her face as she playfully tugged the wiry man's sleeves.
"This guy is Aleksei from the past…" Elizabeth muttered to herself as she continued on watching the memories.
Aleksei saw what Elizabeth was doing, but he made no effort to stop her.
"....."
Elizabeth saw Aleksei and the woman falling in love with each other, every time they were together.
"....."
Elizabeth could see every hug, touch, kiss and smile that decorated the face of the two lovers.
"..."
Elizabeth's face soured as she saw that these romantic memories seemed to be nonstop.
"When will all these fluffy stuff stop?" Elizabeth thought as she felt her head starting to ache. "Don't tell me that all the memories will be like this?"
Fortunately for her she was wrong, as the tone of what she was watching drastically changed.
The scene where Aleksei and his lover were sharing a picnic suddenly shifted, as it now showed the bloodstained body of Aleksei's lover.
The woman's body looked extremely mutilated, and it looked like she had no hope of surviving.
"My love Victoria… She tried to experiment on making a portal that will allow Star Espers like us to transcend… but it backfired horribly, bringing Victoria to that state." Aleksei muttered as he watched alongside Elizabeth. His voice was hollow, showing how fragile he is right now.
Elizabeth then watched as the past Aleksei placed the dying Victoria inside a human-shaped capsule that kept her condition stable. But even with these actions, Victoria seemed to be inching closer and closer to death.
"Even with the advanced technology that we have, my love is still dying." Aleksei said as he let out a deprecating smile. "So, left without any options, I decided to fuse my wife with a little portion of the World Diagram Fragment that is with me, just the part that is enough to keep her alive. As for me, I fused with the remaining portion of the World Diagram Fragment."
At that point, Elizabeth decided to stop watching the memories anymore as she knew what exactly happened next.
Elizabeth did not hold back the venom in her words as she said, "After you did those things, you must have thought that gaining the World Diagram Fragment from me will be enough to heal your wife. But because of my power, you have no way to snatch the fragment from me. It was only earlier that you had the first real chance to take it. But unfortunately for you, you still failed."
"Yes, I failed…" Aleksie replied as he let out a shuddering cough.
By this point, Elizabeth realized that most of her and Aleksei's body were already infected by the virus. Just a little more wait and they will be gone.
Elizabeth can just stand there and wait for her demise, but after seeing the extremely forlorn look on Aleksei's face, Elizabeth decided to give this man a little leeway.
"You fused with the World Diagram to save your love, while I abandoned my love to fuse with the World Diagram. Clearly, it shows that you are a better person than me." Elizabeth said as she tried to salvage the remains of the World Diagram fused with her. "Even if you committed countless sins, I think that you still deserve to see your love one more time."
"What are you-" Aleksei's words were cut off as Elizabeth let out a yell, collecting most of the remains of the World Diagram inside her. She then threw these fragments towards the human capsule containing the body of Veronica.
"~~~"
Elizabeth crossed her fingers, as she wished that her gamble succeeded. If not, then she had to endure leaving this world with a mopey guy.
Fortunately, Elizabeth and Aleksei did no have to wait that long as another figure appeared inside Aleksei's mind.
This time, the figure who arrived did not look as fierce as Elizabeth or as forlorn as Aleksei. The new arrival looked calm and serene, as if nothing can faze it.
"My love!" Aleksei looked stunned as he saw that the new arrival was Victoria, the same woman that he has pledged to save. "How-"
"I collected some of the remaining parts of the World Diagram inside me, and then I fused it with Victoria." Elizabeth said as she guessed Aleksei's question. "This allowed your love to regain her consciousness, and it also allowed her to access your mind. However, her time is limited too, just like us. So right now, you two can- oh come on, we don't have much time left!"
Elizabeth's complaints went unheard as Aleksei and Victoria hugged each other tightly, with Aleksei crying in relief and happiness. Good thing this happened inside his mind, or things would have been messy.
"Even here you are still a crybaby? Really Lexy, when will you man up?" Victoria teasingly said as she stroked Aleksei's back.
"For you my love, I will always be the same." Aleksei replied as he sniffed Victoria's hair. "Hm, you are still as fragrant as before, my love."
"Oh just keep on sniffing, or I will give you a good beating later." Victoria said as she bopped Aleksei's head. It was then that she saw Elizabeth staring awkwardly at them.
"You are the one who woke me up, right? I thank you for what you did." Victoria said as she gave a slight bow towards Elizabeth. "You should know that this means a lot to my husband."
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome." Elizabeth nonchalantly said as she looked all around her.
Because of the extensive damage of the virus, everything inside Aleksei's mind was starting to break down.
All the panels and structures around Elizabeth started to crumble, representing the destruction of Aleksei's mind.
Not only that, but Elizabeth can also see her projection starting to disintegrate, just like Aleksei's and Victoria's.
Aleksei seems to have not noticed what was happening to him as his gaze was only centered on his lover.
"My love, I am sure that you are hungry already." Aleksei said as his legs started to disappear. "I have been saving up this recipe that you will surely like. Hell, I can cook it for you now!"
"Oh, now that makes me hungry." Victoria replied as her legs disappeared too. "Maybe we can let Elizabeth join us?"
"Oh, are you inviting me for dinner? I would love that?" By this point, half of Elizabeth's body was already gone, with them consumed by the virus already.
"Hmph, I don't really like you at all, but since Victoria invited you, then I will allow you to eat with us." Aleksei said with most of his body gone. At this point it was only his head that remained. "You better behave!"
"Don't worry Aleksei, Elizabeth is a civilized person, so I think that she will do fine." Victoria replied as she placed her forehead near Aleksei's. This is the only thing that she could do, as it was only her head that was also left.
"It's all settled then!" Elizabeth declared as she let out a sad smile. "Let's attend our first supper together!"
"Hear hear!"
"Aleksei, stop saying things like that! It's embarassi-"
Their conversation stopped at that point as all three of them disappeared into nothingness. With all their traces gone, what was only left was a sad sigh which echoed upon the empty landscape.
[Main Mission Accomplished]
[Bonus Mission Accomplished]
[Grade: S]
-----------------------END OF VOLUME 1 ------------------------
