64 Mistakes Were Made, Or Were they? (1)
"No!" Zel watched as Emilia's soul burn to ashes, leaving nothing behind.
But just as he started feeling down, a hand lifted his head to make him face her. A smiling Emilia appeared from where Estophelia used to be. Her appearance was the same as before, but her eyes were now golden instead of their usual blue.
"You're alright!" As soon as he met her loving gaze, Zel immediately took her into his arms.
Tears ran down his face as the pure agony he just felt was replaced by an overwhelming amount of relief. Zel was sure that the soul before him was Emilia, but he just saw her die. He was about to ask what happened when he heard her voice call out to him first.
"Yeah, well... I think the person from before mixed her soul with mine. For some reason, she made me dominant." Emilia moved her head back and pointed at her face. Even she was confused at their situation.
She wasn't quite sure why, but the original consciousness stepped back and gave her memories the primary control. This wasn't a simple thing to do, as that meant that she was now just a memory. Emilia was now the personality that would take control of their whole existence.
But now that she had access to all these memories, she felt like she was allpowerful. It was strange to suddenly know a lot of things and not feel confused while thinking about them. It was like she was recalling them, even if she had no recollection of being there.
"She's... gone?" Zel was happy to get Emilia back, but it felt wrong to suddenly push a person out of existence as he might have just done. He was about to have a breakdown when Emilia flicked his forehead.
"Silly boy! It's not like she's dead or anything. When we got back to our bodies, she'd be able to control this one again. Right now, I'm just borrowing it. Though it is strange to borrow from yourself." Emilia focused on her thoughts and found that Estophelia's ego was still there.
Inside her mind palace was a young woman who lied on a bed, sporting a satisfied smile on her face. Emilia found her quite cute, but she looked so defenseless that she looked weirdly erotic. She willed a blanket to cover the ego and watched as it threw the blanket on the ground. A dissatisfied expression was on her face until she felt the constraining sheet was removed, it then turned to a victorious smile.
Emilia didn't know what to make of this situation so she laughed it off and was about to go back outside when a bad feeling came to her. She quickly thought about what it was that bothered her and immediately got her answer.
"Zel, I don't think you've done what you said you'd do, at least not correctly." Emilia who had just finished scanning Estophelia's most recent memories frowned. It was correct to assume that Zel had time travelled back, but the date wasn't quite right. If Estophelia's memories served her right, the year was...
"It's 1998, Zel. It's not 2006 like you wanted it to be." Emilia waved her hand to the right and a screen appeared before them. It was a scene that made Zel freeze on the spot.
"Well, that's... troublesome." Zel didn't even think about it and accepted Emilia's words as the truth. He put enough trust in her to believe her words without any proof. But it seems that she was already showing him some.
A young couple were staying inside a hospital room, the woman lying on a bed while the man stood at the door. The man was talking with a nurse who was presenting to the man an infant, a baby boy. Beside the man was a young girl who was curiously looking up, wanting to get a peek at the young infant being held in the arms of a nurse.
"They look... happy." Zel was looking at his parents' happy smiles as they watched over his infant self. He'd never seen such a loving face from his father, and the pure joy in his mother's face made his heart ache. How did such a loving couple turn to what they were in the future?
"You just got born, Zel. And look over here." Zel turned his head to look at another screen that Emilia manifested. This one showed another couple, but their situation was different from Zel's parents. The baby wasn't in anyone's arms as she laid on a portable incubator. The woman had tears in her eyes while the man comforted his wife, his reddened eyes showing his own sorrow.
"I just got born too, I think. What a strange thing to see, isn't it?" Emilia looked at her parents and smiled while crying at the same time. Even as old as she was, she had always looked at her parents with love. But how could she not give love to these two people, even now her heart yearned to comfort them.
"She's going to be fine, I promise." Emilia spoke out of nowhere, wishing that her words would reach the miserable couple. What she didn't expect was that the two would look in her direction with a questioning gaze.
"Is anyone there?" While Lane, Emilia's mother, didn't speak her mind, James, Emilia's father, called out with a strong intent. The only people in the room were the two of them and their infant daughter. Although the voice that sounded out earlier was soft, it was as if the voice was whispering in their ear. It was a frightful experience but the words it spoke were comforting. It was a conflicting experience.
"Emilia... Don't do anything else." Zel quickly awoke from his stupor when he saw the reaction Emilia's action caused. If they did anything more than what they did, there will be consequences. He knew that quite clearly, having foresight and all that.
"But they look so sad. I just want to comfort them." Although Emilia could do as she pleased and Zel couldn't do anything about it, she wasn't like that. Zel rarely ever hindered her from doing something, she knew better than to disregard his words. Other than that, she didn't want to put a strain between them when she knew that she was wrong.
"It's not that you can't help them at all, just don't be so direct in helping them. Read me." Zel thought about the problems he created while changing the future due to his own selfishness. Even though he knew that the pain was temporary, he tried to change events from how they were. While he got what he wanted at the time, the effects of those actions of his caused more trouble than they were worth.
Emilia merely closed her eyes and confided in Zel's embrace. She watched his memories that showed her how their life turned out, how happy her parents were even after experiencing the pain they were going through right now. It wasn't that she was cruel for letting them suffer today, it was that her allowing her parents to feel the happiness that is the future.
The trouble that occurs when things change in the past cannot be treated lightly. Zel thought about how he was first given the power of Foresight before his current ability came to be. Perhaps it wasn't a random ability after all, since it made him more aware of the things one needs to consider when manipulating time.
"Don't worry about this for now, your parents are strong. You have to believe in them, just as they believed in you. Alright?" Zel went to Emilia's side and held her hand. He used his free hand to caress the hand he was holding to comfort her. Although there was a problem they could solve easily, it doesn't mean that it is the best solution.
"Sigh. Alright. Thanks, tiger." Emilia slowed her breathing to get a hold of herself. She knew from her memories that things would turn out fine even without helping her parents. The problem lied on the infant's health being way too unstable, that should be her focus for now.
"So, you're telling me that I have nine more years before I could take over a body. The system hasn't been made yet, and we're pretty much stuck here for that long too." When Zel felt Emilia's mood brighten up, he took to his feet and walked around.
The reason he chose to go back to 2006 was because his nine-year-old body would be able to handle a soul takeover. If he does it earlier, then there will be problems in the body because of its lack of strength. If he did it later, then that would just be a waste of time. But now, he had to wait nine years before he could even start influencing the future.
"I don't think this is a problem, though. Isn't it actually better?" Emilia who was reading Zel's mind brought in a new perspective. Their difference in interpreting situations and with the added memories of Emilia made it possible for her to think of few improvements they could do for now.
"Think about it this way, what can we do in nine years?" Emilia sat on the couch and pulled out another set of drinks. But she didn't put out tea like Estophelia did, she liked coffee better. She also poured Zel his own cup, patting the seat beside her so they can cuddle.
Zel jumped to her side and placed his head on her thighs. He didn't even care about the coffee as long as he got to stay in this position. He didn't even last a day without her, he didn't know if it was pathetic of him or if she was just that good.
"Pfft. You know it, baby. This young lady is your goddess now!" Having read his thoughts, as well as seen his memories from when he travelled the time stream, Emilia was glad to be with Zel.
She didn't tell him something that might make the man confused. Perhaps it was because of the uniqueness of the time stream, but his sense of time there wasn't right when he was there. That was because from what she saw, it wasn't just a day like he remembers. Those lights he saw travelling around were just star-like particles that didn't move at all, it was him that moving at a stupidly fast rate.
If the time was correctly counted, he had been travelling the time stream for a little more than a decade. It was better off being hidden from him since it did nothing to help. Besides, he wouldn't have to go through that place again. He shouldn't have to do it again.
