'Wake up, Adam.'
Bolting upright from his bedsheets, a youthful man with wavy golden locks of hair framing his chiseled temples and jawline stood naked on his bed. His eyelids shot open and revealed a pair of bright blue eyes with glowing red eight-pointed stars shining across the pupils and irises.
Puzzled, the man looked down at his wiry and athletic musculature. Part of him expected to see numerous wounds since he had just finished fighting Zeus.
Then, his brows furrowed.
Memories flashed through his head of two other Adams, other lives of himself. One of them was similar to him in the Garden of Eden aside from having to participate in the battle of Ragnarok, Also, the God who created the Adam of that world seemed different from Zeus.
The third Adam had memories of a life spent in a more modern world. He had lived life like that of one of his children and had even read some sort of manga about himself called 'Record of Ragnarok'.
"Strange. What is going on here?"
'A new life, my son.'
Adam remained silent. In moments, the trio of life memories settled into place, and he considered the tone of the deep and gentle voice reverberating in his head.
"You are not Zeus. Father, then?"
"Indeed. Since those three of your lives ended tragically, this new life should serve as a form of reprieve. Perhaps confront any regrets you might have left."
"Is that so?" Adam mumbled in response. One of his brows raised due to feeling like his Father of that other world still had more to say.
"The you and I of this world that I have sent you to were rather pitiful as well. My creation deserved better."
"...Past tense? You died in this world?"
"So to speak. You should comprehend using your third life's memories. It is a rather foolish world."
"I see. One of those."
"Yes. Now, somebody is waiting for you. I will be watching over you from afar, my child. I hope you can find some peace in this foolish little world."
"I see. Thank you."
The voice stopped reverberating in Adam's head. It felt like the presence there left yet remained at the same time. It was a strange and contradictory feeling.
"Another life, is it?" Adam mumbled while looking at his own hands. He turned them over and looked at his callouses left from working his fields and fighting to protect his children. He pondered on what to do with a new life since he knew it was mainly his third life as a rather ordinary person that left regrets and desires unfulfilled. His first two lives' memories as the first man only left him wondering how his children fared. His third self never saw the end of that story.
"I hope they lived."
*Bam!*
A door slammed open across from the large bed he was standing on. He calmly turned his gaze to the intruder. Then, he widened his eyes.
"Adam!"
A ball of wavy blonde hair and smiles barreled toward him.
"Eve?"
The woman's head flew straight into his chest. Her thin arms wrapped around his torso like a perfect football tackle.
'It is not good for man to be alone.'
The voice reverberated in Adam's head one last time before retreating again. Adam immediately processed the thought and inwardly thanked his Father from that other plane of existence.
So as not to hurt the woman diving toward him, Adam allowed the momentum of her tackle to carry him back onto the bed. The springs creaked loudly when their bodies fell and bounced on the mattress.
A small nose rubbed back and forth on his chest, bringing a small smile to Adam's face. Upon feeling a subtle wetness and hearing some sniffling, however, he frowned.
"I- I don't know what I would do without you, husband! I thought my heart would stop when that ugly meanie hurt you!"
Lips curling back into a subtle smile, Adam tightly hugged his wife and rubbed her back. He vaguely noticed the cloth covering her unlike normal, but that didn't matter to him right now.
"It's okay. I'm here."
"Thank the other God for making this possible! I wanted to stab that stupid Zeus in the face!"
Adam sighed and continued rubbing her back.
"What about our children? How did they fare? Did they survive?" Adam asked.
Shaking her head in a way that rubbed her silky hair across Adam's torso and spread more tears on his chest, Eve mumbled, "I don't know. I was brought here right after you died. I'll never let you die again!"
"I won't leave you behind again, either."
Finally looking up at him with her large blue eyes dribbling with puddles of tears, she pouted, "Hmph. You better, because I'll follow you wherever you go. Even in death!"
Knowing his lady, he lifted her chin and pulled her into a gentle kiss.
"Is that better?"
"No. Again!"
Eve smashed her lips against his harder than before as though trying to glue herself to him.
A while later, she calmed down and tried to catch her breath while still sprawled out on his chest.
"Better?" Adam asked, smiling gently at his wife.
"Mhm."
The two of them looked deeply into each other's eyes for a while.
"I'm glad you're here, Eve."
"Me too, Adam."
"How long have you been here?"
"A few hours, I think? Time still doesn't make sense, but I made you breakfast!"
Eyes and smile widening with excitement, Eve dragged Adam out of bed and out into a hallway. Adam studied the surroundings and noticed only simple furnishings. He also noticed two other doors down the hall and a stairway at the end.
Unlike what he was accustomed to, he observed that Eve was wearing a blue and white sundress as opposed to the leaves and ferns that she normally wore.
He also noticed the leaf still covering his crotch. All things seemed to be in order.
"You look beautiful in that dress, Eve."
Whipping her head around, Eve's lips rose into a sloppy smile as she asked, "Eh? Hehehehehehe. You think I'm beautiful in this?"
"Absolutely."
Cheeks turning a little pink, Eve shyly fluttered her eyes and spun around on her toes to show off the dress.
"How beautiful?"
"The most beautiful to the point even goddesses would fail to compare," Adam instantly responded.
Smiling brightly, Eve grabbed Adam's hand again and led him toward the stairway with extra pep in her step. She then led Adam downstairs to a quaint little living room and then to a similarly quaint dining room.
Part of Adam that had experienced a modern world half-expected more furnishings than a singular couch and set of dining table and chairs in those rooms, but this was already more than he needed.
Eyes practically glowing in anticipation, Eve pulled out a dining chair and gestured for her husband to sit. Almost the instant Adam sat down, she scampered over to a small kitchen area and carried over numerous pans one by one and set them on hot pads.
Seeing his wife navigating a modern kitchen without much trouble, Adam raised a brow, but he withheld his curiosity for the time being. He figured his talkative wife would explain it before long.
Once the entire table was filled with pans full of food, Eve placed a giant plate in front of Adam and started piling food onto while excitedly explaining each one.
"There were these cooking magazine things in the kitchen, and I learned how to make all this! Look at this one! It's called eggs benedict. This one is scrambled eggs! This one is just sausage. Oh, and this one is called hash browns. And here is salmon! That one was easy since we used to catch those all the time. There is also fruit. Can't go without that."
Watching Eve set an apple on the table next to his plate, Adam rested his chin on his palm and quietly listened to her happily explaining all of the dishes. Before long, a veritable mountain of food stood before him.
Eve wiped her hands on an apron she had put on over her sundress before taking a seat. Then, she swung her legs back and forth while watching him with an expectant gaze.
"Thank you, Eve."
"Hehe. Of course," Eve replied with a silly smile lighting up her face.
Adam looked down at the silverware and saw chopsticks along with a fork, knife, and spoon. Noting the presence of the chopsticks inwardly, he grabbed a fork and started eating.
After watching her husband finish several bites, Eve also portioned a few bites of food for herself and slowly ate without removing her eyes from Adam.
"This is wonderful, Eve. I couldn't have asked for anything better to wake up to."
"Hehe. Hehe. I love you."
"I love you, too, Eve."
Halfway through finishing his mountain of food, Adam finally asked, "Where did all this food come from?"
"It was here when I woke up. I figured the nice God who isn't Zeus put it there. There is also a garden in the backyard. It has an apple tree, vegetables, and even chickens and rabbits. It's like our own little Garden with less work than before."
"I'll have to take a look when I finish all of this delicious food," Adam responded. "Speaking of food, I noticed you seemed quite comfortable in this modern kitchen."
"Oh, yeah! I guess I got to live another life or something, but I died when I was fifteen! Fifteen years old, Adam! I got hit by a car! Can you believe it?!"
"Uh… yeah. Something similar happened to me."
"Hehe. We really are husband and wife~. Not even death and gods can keep us apart."
Smiling in response to his wife's giddy attitude, he simply responded, "Indeed."
After finishing his food, Adam helped Eve clear the table and wash the dishes. Above the sink, Adam looked out through a small window. Even while observing the small garden there in the backyard, his hands scrubbed the dishes with absurd finesse. His muscles designed to be practically divine in nature had zero trouble cleaning things at a ridiculous pace. He noticed his wife was occasionally staring at his arms and gulping audibly.
While observing the garden, Adam thought about his time as the caretaker of the Garden of Eden as well as all the children he left behind and thought, 'I wonder what I should do in this world aside from enjoying more time with Eve.'
"Since we've got more time in this new life together, what do you want to do, Eve?"
"Have one hundred children."
Adam stopped scrubbing dishes for a moment and turned his head to meet his wife's gaze. Her eyes shone with zero hint of lies.
Lips rising into a thoughtful smile, he responded, "Sure. Anything else?"
"...Are you thinking about our children we left behind?"
"Yes. And here."
"I believe they will be fine. They are grown. We can trust them."
"Mhm. A father still worries."
"I know. A mother does, too."
The two fell silent while finishing the dishes until Adam finally said, "As a father, I should be a guide and protector. If this world is modern, maybe I'll become a teacher or whatever the equivalent would be. If there is no need for teachers here, then maybe we can just be gardeners again."
Eve smiled, nodded, and with absolute confidence said, "Whatever you want to do, I know you'll be the best at it."
"Thanks, Eve. Let's figure out what kind of world this is first. Then, I'll decide for sure what to do with this new life."