250 After story 1

*

It was a cool evening and the streets of Harox were dyed in a slight auburn-ish gold. This was a rare phenomenon that typically occurred around the end of the year. Lilith with her massive wealth amassed from who knows where didn't really need a job and lived the rest of her teen life in leisure. What happened after that was a story for another time.

It had been a year since the battle with Zet. Our final attack was based on adjusting the value of existences and concepts, so we couldn't exactly remove Zet permanently. He existed as a conceptual being, but we successfully managed to suppress him to the point that defeating and sealing him would be trivial for even an origin class user. Then again, Zet retained enough power to be on par with origin classes, with that power he...

Changed himself into a little girl. Possibly digging my memories and violating my privacy with his near omnipotent powers, he saw my situation and might have gotten inspired by it. I inspired him to become like this in a sense... Why does this feel like a defeat...

Zet's taste was on full display, his body was set at an age similar to mine which was around 15. She had locks of pure white that adorned her nicely shaped face, large eyes, fair skin, no skin blemishes at all. It was as if she was a doll that could move and interact, even her attire was in gothic lolita. I guess this was what staying in heaven for a few million years would do to someone's taste.

"Actually it may be a few billion and I wouldn't know~ I was prepared to completely stop thinking at all~ Until thou came along and wreaked havoc..." (Zet)

"... Nee~ Zee-chan, why are you inside my house... You're all powerful aren't you? Why don't you just expand the universe or something and place your house in the newly created gap? " Ignoring the fact that she read my mind while I reminisced, I decide to ask her an important question.

After arriving back from heaven, or the dimension beyond, there was a strange new girl about the same age as me waiting for us back at the mansion. When she revealed herself to be Zet, I had immediately isolated the space and sent us back to heaven. Well this was my version instead of Zet's though, the main difference being that I was the owner of the space this time and that she was inside my territory. She revealed herself to be now powerless even though she had the ability to easily oppose an origin class user, her stats were through the roof compared to an average adventurer let alone a civilian.

she couldn't defeat one origin user easily but distractions and buying time was easy for her. Anyway, she was now called Zee-chan since calling a young girl Zet would be very strange. In fact Zet was already a strange name for anyone.

"... First of all, manipulating everyone's memories to think the house was always there... It's frankly just a pain. In the first place, it is because I am all powerful that I want to live with thou in the first place!

By suppressing mine divinity, mine divine ego was also suppressed and it seemed to be permanent. Now I get to live freely and it was only because thou caused enough chaos to steal mine attention...

What's wrong with wanting to adore mine saviour. Thou kept thy promise and took mine heart in the process~ This was thine taste from thine memories you know~"(Z)

" Muuh~ Archaic pronouns weren't in my taste though... "

" Heheh~ so thou admit that the rest is. That makes me really happy~ They don't have to be up to thine taste, they can be added spice that makes life exciting. Now that thou art done staring at the sunset, let's go inside and enjoy some tea. Thou art planning a summer trip, right~? " (Z)

" Heheh, yeah. Just imagining all the swim suits has gotten me excited. I've already told the rest of them earlier today. Thanks for helping me pick out something today, I hope Fez will enjoy it as much as I do. "

" mmm! " (Z)

****

The crashing waves splash further ashore as the glaring afternoon star reaches its zenith. The warm air breezes over as if enveloping my skin with warmth and moisture, making it sticky. I'll have to wash off the sweat later on to maintain my skin health. After a certain threshold in income or wealth, skincare can potentially become a new form of addiction. I was only in roughly my 15th or 16th year of age after all.

Time zoomed by and I didn't keep track nor did I care to. I only indulged in my own whims everyday due to the enormous wealth I've kept. Even then, Fez had also saved up some and hid them from the time she was a queen. After her supposed death, the kingdom of Ilnoa abandoned monarchy and decided a coalition of governors were more trustworthy and reliable.

Unexpectedly, there was no wait like I anticipated from the classical beach episodes that I used to watch in the other world. After all, I had become used to being a woman. Well, a little girl, but the age didn't matter. As things are, I've acclimatise to it during the first time I reincarnated in order to survive. As such, I had nonchalantly entered the girl's changing room and used it as per normal. Of course, Fez and Z-chan were still kind of stimulating to change next to, however the excitement only came after they were finished changing.

I would refuse to elaborate on why, but I could only say the swimsuits fit them really well. With Z-chan, she chose a plain black bikini set. The colour suiting by contrasting the beautiful white glimmer of her supple skin and silver glow of her hair. It brought out the texture and emphasis on her body while complimenting her hair as well. On the other hand, Fez who had been revived as Cress with her own touch in having pale grey hair had adorned herself with a dark blue pareo and bikini set, suiting the colour of the clear seas. Small outlines of teal highlight their shape and gave proper accents to the design, expressing the taste of their owners.

Before I had noticed, my feet had been stuck rooted to the ground from sheer amazement. A small breeze blew by, cooling my body temperature ever so imperceptibly slightly. I had felt it on my skin though, it woke me up from the daze I was in so I could focus on what was in front of me.

"... Iyaa~ this old man is such a pervert~~" (Z)

"Counting the years, I've spent more than two thirds of time as a guy, as a innocent little girl~ So I don't know what you're talking about teehee~"

"...." (Z)

".... Anyway, let's get on to play instead~"

Grabbing Fez's hand in an instant, I adjusted my speed to one suiting my age and ran into the sea with her hand in tow. Fez herself seemed to be enjoying it as a small grin crept on her face, she must be excited as well. Nevertheless, I had also tried my best in dressing up and went with a pure white set that suited my innocence. What's that? I'm not an innocent maiden? You must be imagining things...

We swam for a little while and played tag in the sea. It wasn't hard as we ran fast enough to stand on water without breaking the water tension. While the sun was still glowing a dim golden, we headed to land and decided to have a sand castle building contest.

Sometimes the sand would get in... And it would be annoying to get it out. But we had lots of fun. At the end, Zee kicked down the castles while sulkily complaining that we had left her alone. We tried to console her by pressing against her from both sides in a hug. She was just like a little kid so maybe it brought out some unwanted motherly instincts.

"mmmgggm!? You're smothering me!" (Zee)

Releasing her from our vice, she breathed a sigh of relief as we chuckled to ourselves. She was like a cute small animal even if she was barely smaller by only a few centimetres. Packing up our belongings and changing out of our swimsuits, we sat at the nearby beach sun beds with drinks in our hands. A selection of vibrant colours could be observed swirling around in the drink as I tilt it to fit the edge into my lips. A cooling and refreshing liquid enters my mouth, the sweetness and sourness caressing the tongue. The sun slowly setting as the last drops flow down my throat.

"Hey Fez... Zet-san. The universe will end eventually won't it? Even if we truly became immortal, we are still bound by many things. An end is natural for something that had a start..."

"Hmpf Emily, all things come and go eventually as you've said. Well, we fortunately have more time to enjoy our lives than the average human, seeing how as we're only going to die when the universe does. So let's forget about all that stuff and enjoy the rest of our days. "(Fez) Her eyes were closed, chest heaving slightly and inducing a calm atmosphere.

" Why are you worrying about that now? You certainly didn't seem to be the type to be scared of death, considering you challenged a damn god... " (Z) Exasperation tinged her voice as she carefully chose her words.

"Hahah... Are you guys as dense as I am? I'm not scared of dying, I'm scared of losing you guys..."

Silence filled the void, was that too abrupt of a declaration? Well whatever, I've said my piece and I feel satisfied. Unexpectedly, a slight smile surfaced on my face in this awkward mood. Looking over the other 2, Fez had opened her eyes and a slight blush decorated their cheeks.

"Wh... What are thou saying so casually?!" (Z)

She had slipped out of her old accent just now and went right back in. She must be happy.

"I... I knew that already..." (Fez)

On the contrary, she was definitely looking away, straight at Zee-chan. They both look right into the other's eyes with flush faces and red tipped ears.

"Anyway, let's go back home."

With no opposition, we returned to the mansion in the evening. The lights were off as we had left the mansion a while ago. Wait weren't there other people living here too? At the very least, now that Iyori has moved in the lights should have stayed on unless something happened to her. Well, my worries were blown away in an instant though.

In an instant, the usual decorating while we were out cliche played out. It didn't diminish the impact though, I still felt incredibly happy to have such good friends. The lights flashed on to reveal banners above that wrote "Happy birthday Emily" along with countless balloons in the corners. It seemed a bucket of streamers were placed all over the walls and decorative trees as the usual mundane brown walls had become much more vibrant in an instant.

James, Houzo, Bavner, Iyori, Kurisu, mother, Fez, Zee, along with the 4 ex-bodyguards Kido, iroha, kogami, yuuki were also there. Who knew I would make so many friends in the short time while I was in this world. It may not seem like a lot to others, but it was more then my expectations, which was zero. I think their presence were more important than some decorations, but how could I say something so embarrassing out loud?

Followed by the traditional birthday song, celebrations continued into the night. It must have been around 27 years since I've come here. 12 in the previous iteration and 15 in this one. Fez had also moved into my place along with Iyori and Zee while Kurisu only came once a week to clean the place up with paid service of course. So I was invited into Fez's bedroom to get away from the crowd and relax. We are just relaxing, right? Right?

"It's been an incredibly long while huh. I remembered when you tried so hard to break me out of my shell and made friends with me. You seemed so mysterious and dazzling then... I was fearful though. Fearful that my only friend would disappear because of something unknown.

Well you died anyway, even though I promised myself to protect you... "(Fez)

" Yeah it has been a long while. How nostalgic to think of those times. I just didn't want a lonely death, I was on the verge of it all the time in that period of my life. So I wanted to at least make 1 friend if I suddenly go. You guys supported me a lot. Some of the funds were from James weren't they, no matter what I did I had to at least procure starting funds or projects wouldn't even start. I'm not so dumb to overlook that, Hahah. "

" Mhmm, he was so infatuated with you that he became shocked when you proposed to me in front of everyone. Haha, he became depressed for a few days and couldn't go to work. Nothing we can do though, better than tricking him and getting into something troublesome. " (Fez)

" nnn. I feel tired. Is it alright if I crash here for tonight? "

" Of course. Did you need permission to get into my bed before? "(Fez)

" Hahah, that's embarrassing. Well. Good night. "

"Night. " (Fez)