AN: Sorry guys, haven't updated for three days now.
Have been depressed these past few days. And i practically doesn't have anything going on besides my work to occupy me, hence making writing practically impossible.
You know why?
BECAUSE FC BARCELONA CAN'T FUCKING PLAY A UCL KNOCKOUT GAME WITHOUT GETTING A FUCKING RED CARD, FOR FUCK SAKE. ON TOP OF THAT, THE BITCHASS REFEREE IS A WASTE MAN, AND HE IS A ROMANIAN TOO. YEAH FUCK HIM.
Anyway,
3 Bonus chapters if Barcelona can comeback and eliminate Atletico Madrid in the second leg.
___________
"Illya-kun?"
Lavinia startled when she saw the man she knew, now appearing much older, wearing a white linen shirt at the dining table. It completely threw her off to see Jay, who had been wounded and tattered after the battle in the desert, now sitting there so casually with an unfamiliar little girl. The man, the slightly older Zayyn Illya Kovalenko, looked confused as he stared at her, tilting his head.
"Yes? It's been a while since you called me by that name... What happened?" the older Zayyn said. He looked both confused and worried as his dark hazel eyes softened, focused on Lavinia.
But one thing Lavinia noticed was that there was no golden X in his left eye. The Avesta was nowhere to be seen.
"Papa, papa... I want milk!"
Zayyn shifted his gaze and smiled at the little girl.
"Alright, wait here with Mama... Papa will make it for you," he said as he put down the newspaper in his hand and gently placed his daughter onto the chair.
Zayyn then stood up and looked back at Lavinia.
"Lavi, do you want some black tea?"
Lavinia was speechless. Her sapphire eyes moved between the little girl and the man continously.
'Papa? Mama?' She could not understand what was happening or make sense of why she was here in the first place. This was her home, their home, the home she shared with Jay in Romania, yet now they had a daughter together.
"What happened? A nightmare?" Zayyn then walked toward her, trying to place his hand on her cheek, but stopped when Lavinia instinctively pulled away her body.
Her reaction surprised him.
"Lavi..."
Lavinia widened her eyes. She had never done something like that to Jay before as she always accept his embrace, but right now, it felt like her body instinctively rejected the affection of the man who was supposed to be the love of her life.
After a long silence, Lavinia regained her composure as she closed her eyes and nodded.
"I... I'm sorry. Yes... a black tea sounds good," she said hesitantly, carefully observing his expression.
The older Zayyn looked concerned but nodded anyway.
"Then... I'll make it for you."
After that, he walked to the other room, leaving Lavinia and the little girl alone at the dining table. Lavinia then slowly turned her gaze toward the child, who remained unbothered as she played with the toy in her hand.
After standing there for a moment, Lavinia sat across from her at the dining table, simply staring at the little girl's face curiously.
'She does look like me and Illya-kun... But that can't be possible. I was just in the desert earlier. All of this is probably...'
"Mama? Why are you staring?"
Lavinia snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the little girl's voice.
"Uh... no, I just thought you looked really beautiful today," Lavinia said with a soft smile. She did not know the girl's name or even who she really was, or why she was calling her Mama, but her words were still genuine.
"Ehe~ Of course. I am Mama's daughter, and since Mama is very gorjus... ehm, gorgius... ehm..."
"Gorgeous."
"...Yeah! Of course, Illya is beautiful too!" the little girl said with a smile so pure it could rival Heaven's finest, being Gabriel herself.
Lavinia smiled as a warm feeling filled her heart just by looking at those smile.
"Illya… huh? It's indeed a good name." Lavinia muttered with a smile. It was a name Lavinia had always held dearly. If that was truly her daughter's name, then it was a wonderful one, even though it was traditionally not used for girls.
"So, Illya, you seem to be dressed in a pretty summer dress. Where are you going?" Lavinia asked again.
But she made a mistake.
"Eh~… Mama forgot?" Illya stopped, pouting as she made a cute little face.
"Uhm…" Lavinia hesitated.
"Tsuu, Papa said Mama is tired because of work, so i guess Illya could understand… anyway, the plan is… we are going to the beach today!" Illya said enthusiastically, raising her hand with a bright smile.
"A beach?" Lavinia raised her eyebrows.
"Yes…" The voice came from Zayyn as he brought two glasses. One was a glass of milk, which he placed in front of Illya.
"Yay, thanks, Papa!"
Zayyn smiled, then set another glass filled with black tea in front of Lavinia as their eyes met.
"Since it is summer, I thought it would be nice to enjoy the sea breeze. I thought I told you yesterday?" Zayyn said.
Lavinia could not say anything.
A Beach?
Everything felt even stranger now.
***
After a few hours of traveling to the beach, which was quite far from Maramureș, they arrived faster thanks to the Urus they were driving. Most of the journey had been filled with Illya's cheerful voice.
They finally arrived at Tuzla Beach, a beautiful stretch of coastline in the Romanian countryside.
It was not a particularly busy day, so the beach was not crowded. However, throughout the trip, Lavinia just silence and observe her surroundings. She felt that something was off, as no other cars had passed them along the way. But decided to shake off those thoughts for now.
A sea breeze brushed against her face as her long, beautiful blonde hair fluttered with it like a golden silk thread. Lavinia stood on the sand by the shore, staring emptily into the blue horizon, while Zayyn seemed to be playing with Illya near the water.
Now that Zayyn was topless, all of his scars and the runes etched across his body like tattoos were visible. It was strange because earlier Lavinia could not see Avesta in his eyes, which were the two most noticeable features of his face.
"Mama! Look! A beautiful shellfish!" the little girl suddenly shouted, raising her hand to show Lavinia from afar.
The girl then ran toward her hurriedly with a bright smile, pulling Lavinia out of her thoughts.
"Mama, Mama! Look!" Illya said excitedly, her black hair tied into a small ponytail that swayed from side to side behind her.
Lavinia smiled as she looked at her daughter, her gaze softening as if all her worries had been washed away by that smile.
"Let me see…" she said, crouching down to face her.
Illya nodded enthusiastically, then opened her hand to reveal a small shell, shimmering with a myriad of colors in her tiny palm.
"Wow, that really is indeed a beautiful shellfish!" Lavinia said with gentle tone to her daughter.
"Ehe~ Papa helped me find it," Illya said shyly with a smile. "He said it would look good on Mama as a necklace."
"Do you think so?" Lavinia asked, smiling.
"Nope~" Illya shook her head. "I think a sapphire or a diamond would look better on you, Mama."
Lavinia's eyes widened.
"Pfftt… hahaha…" She could not help but laugh softly at her daughter's response.
"Is there something funny, Mama?" Illya tilted her head.
"No… I'm sorry. You just reminded me of someone," Lavinia said, gently patting Illya's head and ruffling her hair. Illya accepted it, though a confused expression lingered on her face.
"But even if you don't think it would look good on Mama, can Mama still keep the shell?"
"Eh? Sure~" Illya said, handing the shell over to Lavinia, slightly confused.
Lavinia took it, her sapphire eyes fixed on the small shell resting in her palm. Her blonde hair swayed in the sea breeze, while the warm summer sun kissed her fair skin. Just looking at Illya's smile brought a sense of peace to her heart and mind.
Everything felt perfect, just as she had once dreamed her future with Jay would be. Living a quiet family life in the countryside, free from conflict, bloodshed, and the supernatural world entirely. Every moment, every beautiful moment, made her feel that even if time were to stop now, she would be content with that.
But…
Zayyn then approached them with a smile on his face.
Lavinia glanced at Illya and smiled gently.
"Go play with the sand for a little while, okay? Mama wants to talk to Papa about something," she said, softly ruffling her hair.
"Kay~" Illya said as she ran toward the sand behind them. Zayyn glanced at her before continuing to walk toward Lavinia, who was still standing there, staring at him as their eyes met.
Zayyn then opened his mouth with a smile.
"Is the headache getting better?" Zayyn asked.
Lavinia nodded.
"That's good then. Wanna get some mocktails to watch the sunset with?" Zayyn asked with a smile.
But instead of answering his question, Lavinia suddenly spoke.
"Why don't we just end this nonsensical illusion and show your true self?" Lavinia said. The smile faded from her face as she stared at the man in front of her, who was supposed to be Jay with cold eyes.
"Hm? What… are you talking about, Lavi?" Zayyn's smile disappeared instantly at his wife's cold response. His dark hazel eyes stared at her, a strange unease settling in his expression.
"Don't call me by that name, Spirit of Time," Lavinia said to the confused-looking Zayyn. Her sapphire eyes remained fixed on him, a faint smile on her lips, but her gaze was sharp and cold, enough to pierce and freeze anything in sight.
Her sudden words tensed the atmosphere between them. Silence fell, broken only by the sound of waves crashing against the shore.
And after a while, Zayyn's confused expression slowly shifted as an eerie smile creeping across his familiar face, making Lavinia's gaze even colder than before.
"Is my personification of him not convincing enough? I thought I had molded his persona perfectly from the man in your deepest mind," the fake Zayyn said with a smile.
"Then you got it completely wrong," Lavinia said coldly.
"Ohh~, is that so? But your smile, and the happiness that filled your expression just now when you were talking with your daughter, our daughter, tell me otherwise. Isn't this what you dreamed of the most, Lavinia Reni!? These moments… Isn't this what you wanted the most!?" the fake Zayyn responded.
Lavinia fell silent.
"You don't understand…"
"Hmmm?"
Then a serene smile appeared on her face.
"Because, any moment i spent together with Illya-kun… even in the deepest hell or the highest of heaven, even in a world where no human should exist or a world where time flows differently from Earth, all of it…"
"-is a precious moment for me."
The fake Zayyn widened her eyes seeing those smile on Lavinia's face, but he then pulled out of his thoughts as a burst of Absolute Demise aura erupted toward him, followed by hundreds of ice thorns pierced through his body, completely impaling him before the aura froze him entirely in a block of ice.
Lavinia's eyes remained cold as she stared at the man who was supposed to be Jay, whom she had just killed on sight. But then-
Slowly, the surrounding world began to deconstruct into particles of light. The ground, the sky, and even the space around her disintegrated.
And then, a voice-
"Mama?"
Lavinia's expression shifted, her eyes filled with pain as she saw even the figure of her daughter, the little girl, Illya dissolve into millions of particles of light before her eyes. Even the shellfish in her hand vanished, and she could no longer feel it.
But then Lavinia shook her head.
'No… all of this is just an illusion.'
And then, almost immediately as the view of the beach disappeared, a surreal celestial landscape slowly revealed itself, a place that felt both divine and otherworldly is being showcased in front of her eyes.
In the distance, a grand white staircase rose toward an elegant, throne-like structure framed by curved, halo-like arches. The architecture was classical, tall columns and clean marble forms, yet it floated in a fragmented world where massive chunks of rock hovered midair, as if time itself had stopped for them, rendering them untouched by the laws of the world, such as gravity.
Behind it all, the sky stretched into a cosmic expanse as a deep blue space filled with stars. A massive, planet-like moon dominated the horizon, giving the scene a sense of scale and timelessness.
"This place…" Lavinia muttered as her sapphire eyes widened in awe at the otherworldly nature of it all. Her outfit had returned to her usual magician robe.
She then looked down at her feet.
The foreground contrasted sharply, an overexposed field of pale, almost glowing grass tinted icy blue-white. It felt dreamlike, as if the ground itself was dissolving into light.
As Lavinia continued to take in her surroundings, a sudden female voice echoed from the throne.
"That was quick… To think that you would just kill the man you love like that. I do not know whether that means you do not loved him, or your love is so strong that it drove you to do something like that. Either way, you are quite insane, human child."
Lavinia instantly turned toward the source of the voice. There, seated on the marble throne, was a woman.
She was small and strikingly beautiful, with pristine white eyes, pointed ears, and an aura of spirit-like presence that allowed Lavinia to immediately grasp her identity.
"But congratulations. You have finished the trial of time. And you did so splendidly, so you should be proud of yourself, little one. Not just anyone can reject a moment in time born from their deepest desire," the woman said with an eerie smile, the same smile Lavinia had seen on the supposedly older Zayyn.
Hearing the praise directed at her, Lavinia did not smile.
"You… Ars Paulina… where is Illya-kun?" Lavinia said as she slowly stepped toward the marble throne. She could not see Jay anywhere, and she needed to find him quickly, because if not-
"Now, now, human child, why don't you calm down a little bit and let us discuss our contract? I must remind you, I am-"
But Ars Paulina's voice was cut off by Lavinia, who was already standing in front of her.
"I asked you where Illya-kun is. He is on the verge of death, and if he is not treated soon, then he will-" Lavinia stopped, her body trembling as her sapphire eyes met the otherworldly gaze of Ars Paulina.
"Now, now… I do love a good romance, but I dislike an impatient child," Ars Paulina said, the smile fading from her face.
Then almost immediately, from thin air, an unconscious figure appeared on the marble floor beside them.
It was a young man, his eyes closed as strands of black hair resting against his peaceful expression.
"Illya-kun!" Lavinia immediately rushed toward the unconscious body of Jay. But as she knelt beside him, she widened her eyes of the absurd thing happened in front of her.
"This…"
All of his wounds were still there, still open and bleeding. Yet the bleeding had stopped, or rather, it was not continuing. It was as if it had been suspended in time.
"Do not worry. Time in this place is forever suspened. Thus, the wounds on the young human are not registered as a continuous phenomenon here," Ars Paulina said with a smile as she stood beside Lavinia.
"That means…"
"Yes. Your husband is well and healthy, at least in this place," Ars Paulina replied which makes Lavinia sighed in relief.
Then she added,
"Besides, I would be disappointed if the Ayin that Yesh always spoke of were to die so easily."
Lavinia's eyes widened at the words that came from the Spirit of Time's mouth.
"You… know."
"Of course. Why do you think I would not just kill the two of you right away for interrupting my sleep?" Ars Paulina said, casting a cold gaze toward Lavinia.
But after a brief silence, she then continue.
"Though, admittedly, I was a bit surprised at first to learn that Ayin has manifested into a human. But I suppose it makes sense now that I think about Yesh' last words. It also seems he has formed a contract with Theurgia on top of that…"
Lavinia nodded.
"But…" Lavinia shifted her gaze back toward Jay's body. "His wounds… they cannot be healed. I…"
Her expression hardened as she looked back at the Spirit of Time.
"I need your power to revert his body back to the time before he was wounded!"
At Lavinia's demand, Ars Paulina simply smiled.
"Reversing time, hmm… That requires far more energy than simply stopping it, since i would need to rewind what is effectively the world's timeline in order to restore a single state," Ars Paulina said, still with her eerie smile.
"But can you do it?" Lavinia asked.
With a confident smile, Ars Paulina then replied,
"Of course I can."
Hearing the Spirit's confirmation, Lavinia's expression brightened with hope as she nodded.
"Then-"
Ars Paulina cut her off as she walked towards the throne.
"But before that, let me officially welcome you…"
"-To the Temple of the Suspended World."