"Bronya"... or rather, Vita stepped closer to my side. She did not act immediately, and so did I. If it was before, I might have exposed her 'act' right from the beginning, just like what I did to Griseo. My experience at Amphoreus made me accept committing tomfoolery sometimes. The times I sang my heart out while dead drunk as well as my decades' long teasing of the Imperator were fun times.
I decided to hold her hand. My gradual movement got noticed as soon as I did it. I felt her body tremble ever-so-slightly. The soft and smooth touch of her dainty fingers reminded me of Bronya, though not completely. Our high cultivations perfected our physical bodies long ago. Interactions are now more on microexpressions and the feeling subconsciously emitted by one's mind.
An inexperienced Vita is cute.
"How is it going on your side? Aren't there still a lot of bugs to fix?" I asked.
"Prometheus will take care of it… at least now."
Another red flag.
Bronya always calls Prometheus "Promy". Her bad take on disguising as someone made me speechless, but at the same time, cute.
We talked about trivial matters for a few hours. Our perception of time had long dulled with our lengthy lifespans. The topic shifted from the specifics to general ones. Vita visibly relaxed from these questions as the former took more mental strength to come up with an answer.
Just then, a loud laughter came out of nowhere. The gender-neutral voice laughed in an extremely comical manner, each of its "Ha!"s going high and low-pitched.
"Fooled! Well-deserved! Aha likes this show, haha!"
""...""
The cozy atmosphere between us froze. Vita mechanically turned her neck towards me. I met her looks with a smile on my face.
"At least we got to know ourselves better, didn't we, Miss Vita?"
"..."
Poof-!
The comical sound effects rang as a puff of white smoke surrounded Vita. She returned to her original appearance moments later. A tinge of blush appeared on her cheek. My first impression of her being an elegant trickster fell apart at this moment.
"Aha can't stop laughing! Hahahahahahaha!"
The "mask's" ragebait seems to have worked as Vita slapped a talisman paper straight to its surface. Kiana's presence permeated it in this instant, sealing Elation's power directly.
"I did not know the respected Dao Ancestor would play with women other than his wives."
"But Bronya is my wife?"
"..."
My simple rebuttal rendered her attack completely ineffective. My experiences in Amphoreus coupled with my failed attempts to counter Elysia's teasing made me stronger. Vita could not respond properly to that precisely because she is the one in the wrong. No matter which choice she picked, she would be on the losing side.
After appreciating her flustered look, I decided to break the silence.
"I know you did not come here just to get to know about me."
She shook her head this time before replying:
"I came here to know more about you."
"Why?"
"Because of the rumors." She paused, her magenta-colored irises looking at me, before continuing, "That anyone whom you contracted ends up becoming your wife."
"..."
It is my turn to be speechless. I knew this day would come, but facing it is another thing. I thought of several ways to explain it in a not-so-scummy way back then, something I will be using now.
"That is the case." I honestly addressed her claim. "My main cultivation art, Xiutian Art, addresses not the typical karmic lines we cut off during our Void Refinement Realm. Have you met with any of your future projections?"
Vita fell silent. I noticed her unnaturalness instantly. A vague feeling swept over me.
The reason she is doing this lay on it.
*****
Future projections are signs of a guaranteed Dao Integration Realm expert. This feat was nigh-impossible to pull off in many cultivation worlds due to the dangers hiding beneath the shadows. Be it external families, natural disasters, otherworld invasions, none could guarantee their future. Add to that the presence of high-level cultivators, even those at the Tribulation Transcendence Realm capable of managing universes at will, seeing a phenomenon like this is as rare as a phoenix's feather.
However, they are currently in the Imaginary Tree, a world that does not know immortal cultivation. The ceiling of this world was the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta, suspected at the half-step Tribulation Transcendence Realm. Them, and the Aeon of Finality whose power was suspected at the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. Mass-producing guaranteed Dao Integration Realm experts was but a trifle, hence it became an "uncommon" phenomenon between Shi Tian's partners. Some experienced it while some did not. Vita belongs to the former.
Four hundred and fifty years ago, she encountered her future projection. Vita had just adapted to the new "life" she had, one born out of Sa's defeat, when an unsettling feeling swept over her. She was having her breakfast when the lights dimmed. Even the sunlight outside the window turned into darkness. Her surroundings turned into a dark room.
She bore the qualifications of becoming a Masked Fool. None knows of her thoughts, nor did she treat others as seriously as they thought. Vita is an 'unstable' element who would do the things her heart wills. To be unsettled by something tells about the vicissitudes of her encounter.
As for what she encountered, it was none other than "herself" who left after a single sentence:
"I want you to save someone."
'Was that… me?'
At first, Vita could not believe it. The way her future projection acted was completely out of character. She could never see herself falling for someone, much less become somber due to his misfortune. It gave birth to her curiosity towards Shi Tian—the Dao Ancestor whom she viewed as nothing more than a brilliant hero born out of hard times.
When Kiana approached her for her help in Amphoreus, Vita readily agreed to it. She never interacted much with others… with a few exceptions. She wanted to see first-hand how they viewed Shi Tian, and she wasn't disappointed by the numerous things she saw.
Every single one within that Primum Mobile team would readily lay their lives for him. That was the charisma Shi Tian held… the charisma she wanted to know more about.
Hearing his detailed explanation of his partners' true nature, only one thought remained in her mind.
'Will I also end up as a lovesick fool?'