I'll Be Here A Long Time

2 months later,

-1st person-

"Hey Eris?" The library grew darker.

"Yes?"

"How long do you think it'll take for me to become strong enough to kill the Gods?" I knew that it would take long, but I wanted to know specifically, then there would at least be something to look forward to in the future. I wonder if Eris will say 100 years, 200 years maybe 500.

"A very long time, at the rate you're growing and if you're planning on reading some of my books to aid you in your journey, which I don't really recommend, then it could take thousands of years!" They exclaimed excitedly, it was like asking a bookworm about their most favourite book.

"A..." I paused, before finally remembering I was in a conversation, "Thousands?" I 'fell' off my chair that I was previously swinging on, I knew it would take long but not that long, it's unbelievable.

"Indeed, mostly closer to around 20000 years?" Eris said, they were wondering and calculating the amount of time it would take for me to finish every book, "No, it's too less time... It would be about 300000 years? And that's if you read at superhuman speeds and progress your training even faster."

Of course, if someone had to say 300000 years like it's 1 day then it would be Eris.

"At any rate, you will be here a long time. So I recommend you find pastimes to keep you sane whilst I go into a [Deep Sleep]"

"Make sure you tell me as soon as you wake up if you ever go into a [Deep Sleep], okay? You're my only friend in this place..." I placed the terribly sad expression on my face. According to my previous research, this is included within something a naive child would cry about.

"Sure..." And with that, the room brightened instantly and I got up from the chair I fell off. That conversation had been so eventful that I should've forgot about the fact that I fell off my chair.

I slowly trudged from the library to the living room to the garden. I stood a few seconds, listening to the artificially made trees and the wind that came from nowhere. I looked at a particular tulip and picked it, they looked beautiful when in full bloom, but I personally liked them before they bloomed.

I stared at it for a minute before moving my face closer and smelling its pleasant fragrance. Then I crushed it, the petals fell to my feet and I smiled 'naturally' as I watched.

Although I did mention that I don't have any senses here, what I meant was that I imagined the fragrance. It's a habit I willingly created, or just developed, on my own. I then proceeded to place the stem back on the grass before walking to the middle of the garden and sitting down.

I meditated and trained.

---

9 hours later,

A voice that darkened the area emerged from nowhere, snapping me out of my concentration.

"Ray!" Eris yelled.

Wait... Was that Eris? They didn't call me Raymond, does that mean we got closer? I focused on this and I usually noticed these things first, I always tried getting Eris to talk to me more casually. But they always refused to. It was sad, since being close to Eris would allow me to have some assistance in reaching my goal.

"Ray!!!" Eris yelled louder than before, snapping me out of my daze. I don't think Eris realised that they called me 'Ray' and not 'Raymond', it was almost as amusing as seeing those children laughing.

I got up from my previous position and stretched for a few seconds before replying.

"Eris? What's so urgent that you had to call me this loudly?" Eris would never usually call me like this and it was usually me who called them instead.

"Hmm? Urgent? No, I was just bored." Eris replied, or should I call them stranger. Eris never usually acted like this, does this mean 'I'm' starting to influence Eris? This isn't necessarily a good thing is it...? Should I act more diligent to somehow naturally make Eris become more diligent? It would certainly improve the chances of them becoming normal.

I planned. It wouldn't help my plans to have Eris become less diligent. If anything, it would be detrimental.

My small hand that didn't age at all slowly moved up to my chin as I planned, a frown plastered on my face as I thought of what to do to make Eris normal again.

Could I act more diligent... I doubt it would work, it wouldn't make Eris normal again automatically. Would it? Should I just tell Eris straight up? No, looking at the rooms darkness, they don't seem to think it's a bad thing. And the way they sounded makes it seem like they also don't know, they probably also wouldn't care if I told them. Haaaa... All this thinking is making my head hurt.

"Ray?" Eris shook me out of my thoughts, I guess I was spending too much time thinking.

"Eris?" I questioned back, I think it would be best to just tell Eris straight up. Eris likes the blunt type anyways. Even if I decided against it...

"Yeah...?" Eris seemed nervous, I must have been acting weird to them. Does that mean we're changing into each other? Their reaction is basically the same as mine. No, I don't think so, they probably think I'm planning something. I have done things similar to that in order to keep that certain image.

"Let me be blunt here..." I planned my words before finally saying, "You're starting to act more like me." As I said that, I hoped with all my heart that this wasn't something Eris wanted.

"What do you mean?" I guess I was too upfront in this situation. Should I explain it and then say it, Eris did tell me that they never had friends before they met me so they wouldn't even know this would happen. I guess even Eris is bad at some things. But what if they still don't notice, it's happened before.

"You know how friends act more like each other the more time they spend with each other? Yeah... That's happening with us." I decided to just say it like this, I'm sure Eris will understand.

"Oh... What should we do then?" Eris asked back. Huh, they're willing to go back to normal.

"Try to pay more attention to how you act, we could also limit the time we spend with each other. But I'm not willing to do that. Hmm, we could just leave it to time to change back to normal." These were the only strategies I could think of, there were never any people who tried to reverse or change it. They wouldn't even notice.