After Liscia finally stopped sobbing, Lena and Fran ended up sitting on either side of her on the couch, gently rubbing her back while she recovered from me accusing her of fraud a few minutes back.
Honestly, she looked exhausted. Which was… genuinely my fault for saying what I'd said.
Then again, crying hard enough to make everyone in the room panic would probably do that.
Egrathiel sat across from them, still eating her churros.
At this point, I wasn't even questioning it anymore.
I had no idea where she was getting them from.
Every time I looked away and looked back, there was somehow another churro in her hand. Whether she had an endless supply hidden somewhere or reality itself had decided to provide them for her was anyone's guess.
Either option felt equally believable.
As for Anathasia and me, we'd wandered outside.
The backyard wasn't anything special. It was mostly just a stretch of grass behind the house with a few scattered patches of wildflowers here and there. Beyond that, the city gradually gave way to distant mountains sitting along the horizon.
The afternoon sun hung overhead.
A gentle breeze drifted across the yard, carrying the scent of grass and warm earth with it.
For a while, neither of us said anything. At some point, Anathasia sat down on the grass while I was still standing beside her.
Not because there was any particular reason to stay standing. I just hadn't really felt like sitting down yet.
My thoughts were elsewhere.
The past few days had been strange.
Actually, scratch that.
The past few months had been strange.
Though considering who I lived with, that wasn't exactly a groundbreaking observation.
The silence between us wasn't uncomfortable.
If anything, it was familiar.
The kind that came from spending so much time around someone that neither of you felt obligated to fill every gap in conversation.
Eventually, Anathasia spoke.
"We more or less have everything now, don't we?"
The question pulled me out of my thoughts.
I blinked before looking down at her.
She was staring toward the mountains in the distance, her arms resting loosely atop her knees.
After a moment, I finally sat down beside her. The grass shifted beneath me as I leaned back slightly.
"We do," I murmured.
And strangely enough, I meant it.
For the first time in a long while, there wasn't some immediate disaster waiting around the corner.
Nobody was trying to destroy existence.
Nobody was threatening reality.
Nobody was attempting to rewrite the laws of everything.
Which, admittedly, felt like a pretty low bar.
Still.
It was nice.
I let out a quiet breath.
"I think I'm starting to remember what happened during the previous Era as well."
Anathasia immediately turned toward me.
One eyebrow rose.
Her expression sharpened almost instantly.
The reaction was so fast that I almost laughed.
Looking at her now, you'd think I'd just announced that I'd remembered the location of buried treasure.
Or taxes.
Honestly, she'd probably react more strongly to taxes.
"Just fragments, okay?" I said before she could start interrogating me. "Nothing complete."
Her eyes narrowed. That definitely wasn't enough information for her. But unfortunately for her, it was all I had.
"But I saw what you looked like."
That made her pause.
"Your name too."
"My name?"
I nodded.
The memories still felt strange.
Like trying to remember a dream after waking up.
The harder I focused on them, the more pieces slipped away. But some things remained clear enough that I couldn't mistake them for anything else.
"Mei Li."
The name left my mouth almost automatically.
"and Zhu Yan."
For a moment, neither of us said anything. The breeze picked up slightly, stirring strands of white hair across Anathasia's shoulder. Then I looked at her again.
"The people Rhea mentioned during the previous Era."
A small smile found its way onto my face.
"That was us, wasn't it?"
Anathasia stared at me. For several seconds, she didn't answer. Then her eyes started to shimmer. Just a little. Enough for me to notice before a quiet laugh escaped her.
She shook her head.
"You finally remembered, huh...?"
There was something strange about seeing that expression on her face.
Relief.
Happiness.
Maybe a little frustration too.
Like she'd been waiting for this moment for a very long time and had nearly given up on it ever happening.
I leaned back until I was lying on the grass.
The sky stretched endlessly above us.
Every now and then, I glanced toward her. She was trying to wipe at the corners of her eyes without making it obvious. She wasn't succeeding.
"Why did it take you forever to remember it anyway?" she asked, giving me a slight glare. "I was starting to think you genuinely had permanent amnesia."
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it.
†Girl..."
I shook my head.
"Unlike you, I didn't retain anything from back then."
I folded my arms behind my head.
"I was just existing. Living whatever was in front of me, you know?"
Then I paused as something shifted. The fragments surfaced again. This time a little clearer than before.
A body covered by a white shroud. The owner of the memory standing beside it. Barely managing to remain upright.
My expression faltered. For reasons I couldn't explain, something warm suddenly slid down the side of my face.
A tear.
The memory continued anyway.
And then I heard a voice.
"Mei...?"
"Can you wake up...?"
"Please?"
The words felt distant.
Yet somehow close enough to hurt.
The place around him felt wrong.
The lighting was dim, and the air felt cold enough to cling to his skin. Everything looked spotless, sterile, and far too clean.
It didn't take long to figure out where he was.
A morgue.
"Please tell me this is a joke..."
The voice cracked.
"I'm begging you..."
His hand trembled as he slowly pulled the shroud back.
Then I saw her.
Black hair.
Amber eyes.
Pale skin.
Completely motionless.
The room filled with quiet sobs.
The kind someone made when they were trying desperately not to fall apart and failing anyway.
And lying there was Mei Li.
The woman Anathasia had once been.
Long before all of this.
Long before concepts.
Long before Eras.
Long before reality became whatever it was now.
The same woman sitting beside me.
The same woman who was suddenly grabbing my shoulders while panic spread across her face.
"Kyle!"
My vision snapped back into focus. Anathasia shook me slightly.
"Hey! What's wrong?? What happened??"
I blinked.
Only then realizing tears were still running down my face.
My chest hurt.
Not physically.
Just...
There was no easy way to describe it.
A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips.
I didn't know it was that bad...
Before I could really think about it, I reached forward and pulled her into my arms.
Holding her tightly.
Burying my face against her shoulder. I vaguely registered the fact that I was probably ruining her shirt. But I couldn't really care less about it now.
I felt her freeze, completely caught off guard. For several seconds, she didn't move at all.
"...Hey."
Her voice softened.
"What happened?"
A pause.
"Did I say something wrong...?"
I tightened my hold slightly.
"No."
My voice came out quieter than expected.
"I just remembered something."
I swallowed.
"That's all."
For a while, neither of us moved. The breeze continued drifting through the yard. The clouds kept moving overhead. Somewhere inside the house, I could vaguely hear people talking.
Life continued on.
Meanwhile, Anathasia slowly wrapped her arms around my back and started rubbing it gently. The same way she always did whenever I was going through something.
And for the first time since the memories surfaced, I stopped trying to hold everything together and simply let myself stay there.
—
Before I knew it, days started slipping by.
One after another.
Fran went to school as usual, though I'd occasionally catch her staring at her phone with a smile she clearly thought nobody noticed.
Unfortunately for her, Anathasia noticed everything.
Every single time Fran smiled at her phone, Anathasia would immediately look at me as if expecting me to do something about it.
I still wasn't sure what exactly she wanted me to do.
As for Lena and Egrathiel, the two of them were constantly off somewhere together.
I had no idea where they kept going.
At some point, I stopped asking.
Mostly because whenever I did, Lena would become suspiciously vague while Egrathiel somehow ended up offering me churros instead of an explanation.
Meanwhile, Liscia spent most of her time working as a middle-management consultant at the firm downtown.
Honestly, seeing her function as a normal member of society was still a little surreal.
A few months ago, I wasn't even sure she'd survive an office environment.
Now she was somehow employed.
Life was weird.
As for everyone else...
Roselia and Rania had apparently started working together to industrialize The Woodlands. From what I'd heard, they were coordinating with countries across all five Aegean Continents as well.
The project sounded massive.
Then again, the two of them weren't exactly known for doing things halfway.
Chi Rong Guang, the First Outer God of Continuity went back to her home planet.
Fanji Zhouzhan, if I remembered the name correctly.
Meanwhile, Kagariel stayed behind in The Ruins.
The rest of our friends on Earth were doing pretty well too.
According to Noah, Arianne and Robert had finally gotten together after what felt like years of dancing around each other.
Good for them.
Honestly, I was starting to think one of them would die of old age before either made a move.
Joseph was also doing well.
Apparently, he was working with Mr. Shizhou and Mr. Mingyuan on a new startup while continuing to manage his current one.
Knowing Joseph, he was probably overworking himself already.
Some things never changed.
As for Anathasia and me...
"Fran's still seventeen!"
Anathasia suddenly turned toward me.
"Shouldn't we at least see if this Kimira Disvinadiya girl even deserves her?"
"What if they're just friends...?" I said.
Anathasia stared at me.
Then she looked genuinely offended.
"What friends smile like an idiot while looking at the other's messages?!"
Before I could answer, she grabbed me by the collar and started shaking me for some reason. Eventually, I just let out a small sigh and looked off into the distance.
Just as always...