"It's been a while,"
"Anathasia Dunaleff."
The pitch-black surroundings began pulling back toward the woman.
White hair cascaded behind her as the darkness wrapped around her body, condensing into some kind of dark violet dress.
She stopped.
Her purple eyes settled on me for a second, then her entire body went rigid.
"You..."
"Yup," Anathasia clapped once, casually cutting in as she walked toward her, the smile on her face never fading.
"We still got married in the end. Turns out we had other options besides just following what was written in the book."
The woman's gaze shifted back toward Anathasia, narrowing slightly.
"The book..."
She looked down briefly before continuing.
"You said that book contained everything that happened and everything that will happen..."
Her eyes lifted again.
"But you never claimed to be the one who wrote it."
Anathasia stopped.
Her eyes widened for a moment, then she burst into laughter.
"Ohh, right. I did say that like... what? A hundred and thirty chapters ago?"
The woman frowned.
"Enough jokes. Who wrote that book?"
After a moment, Anathasia's laughter died down into a few lingering snickers before she gently shook her head and snapped her fingers.
Instantly, color returned to the world.
The grey skies regained their orange hue.
The grass swayed again.
Wind rustled through the nearby trees.
"And..." Anathasia trailed off, her expression softening slightly.
"What exactly are you planning to do once you find out who wrote it?"
The woman paused.
The hardness in her expression weakened for a brief second as hesitation flickered across her face.
"Obviously I..."
Her eyes drifted toward me, then back to Anathasia.
Her shoulders slowly slumped.
"What do you care what I do...?"
The smile on Anathasia's face widened slightly.
"Well, for starters... you running around causing problems is technically my responsibility."
She tilted her head.
"Since you're basically a part of me."
The woman winced before glaring at her.
Still, she didn't interrupt.
"And honestly," Anathasia continued casually, "I don't mind stuffing you back inside that copy again now that we know it's fake."
The woman's face immediately paled.
Her fingers turned white from how tightly she clenched her fists.
"You... shrewd little..."
Anathasia raised a finger between them.
"But!" she chirped. "You're clearly way more stable now."
A small smile curved on her lips.
"So you're not gonna cause trouble for me anymore, right?"
At those words, dark tendrils that didn't quite make sense began rising from the woman's back.
She looked up at Anathasia, clearly the shorter one between them, before the tendrils slowly receded again as she let out a frustrated grunt.
"Damn you..."
Her glare sharpened.
"And whatever horrifying thing is behind you."
For a brief moment, my gaze shifted past Anathasia.
And I saw...
something.
No shape.
No real form.
Just something suspended there while everything else seemed to orbit around it endlessly, stretching far beyond what I could even perceive.
Then it was gone.
When I looked back at them again, Anathasia had already turned away, hands clasped behind her back while the woman followed after her begrudgingly.
"Kyle!" she called out before flickering out of existence.
The next instant, she reappeared right in front of me, eyes practically sparkling.
"Let's adopt her!"
She pointed excitedly at the woman standing behind her.
My eyes narrowed slightly as I looked her over.
She was noticeably shorter than Anathasia, arms folded tightly over her chest while grumbling under her breath.
And somehow...
they looked strangely similar.
The woman must've noticed, because she suddenly balled her hand into a fist and raised it over her head.
"I'm not your daughter! I'm just an iteration of yourself!"
My eyes slowly drifted back toward Anathasia, watching her expression brighten even while the woman kept yelling in the background.
"...That," I trailed off. "Doesn't that still basically make her... you, or something?"
Anathasia nodded quickly.
"Well, yeah. But in a sense, she's a smaller part of me from another book...? Or something like that." She waved her hand vaguely. "Like those Akashic Records we read a few days ago."
"...What about her name?"
"Liscia should work," she replied immediately, snapping her fingers once before glancing over her shoulder at the woman.
"You're fine with Liscia, right?"
"Who gave you permission to name me!?"
Anathasia casually turned back toward me, smiling brightly.
"She likes it."
"I didn't agree to anything!"
-
A while later.
After everything settled down, the three of us walked through the open field beneath the night sky.
The moon was the only thing lighting the plains around us. Above, countless stars stretched across the clear darkness.
"What made you release me in the first place?" Liscia grumbled, arms still folded tightly across her chest while I followed behind the two of them.
Anathasia stayed quiet for a moment, her gaze lifting toward the stars.
"I just figured..."
Liscia scoffed lightly, still looking ahead.
"Figured what, exactly?"
"That maybe you'd finally understand."
Silence settled between them as we continued through the endless plains.
Without any light pollution, the galaxy itself was visible overhead. A massive glowing disk of clustered stars stretching across the sky, drifting so slowly it almost looked motionless.
"We weren't really that different back then," Anathasia continued softly, brushing her fingers through the tall grass as she walked.
"And..."
A faint pause.
"I learned a lot."
A slow breath slipped from her lips.
"I thought learning from your mistakes was all there was to it... but that was only the tip of the iceberg."
Liscia and I stayed silent as we followed behind her, listening quietly.
The tension in Liscia's jaw slowly faded as she stared ahead.
"I never really thought about it back then..." Anathasia continued. "But objectively speaking, I was a terrible person."
A small laugh escaped her lips.
"Even when I tried taking the moral high ground against you."
The cold breeze brushed against my skin as I listened.
"Looking back... even if your authority had already become obsolete, you arguably had more life in you than I did."
She lowered her gaze slightly.
"I sounded like a machine back then. Protecting something while pretending I cared."
A brief pause.
"At first... it honestly felt pointless."
The three of us continued walking through the endless plains, the stars above shining clearly without the interference of city lights.
"It's funny," she murmured. "How I claimed you'd done something far worse than anything I ever did..."
A faint smile curved at the edge of her lips.
"...just because you threatened to destroy one Collective Sphere."
She glanced back at me briefly.
"Like I even cared about it beyond Kyle's reality."
Eventually, we came to a stop where there were no trees, nor structures. Just endless grasslands stretching beneath the night sky while entire clusters of stars drifted slowly overhead.
"Now that I've really thought about it..." Anathasia continued quietly, "even if I never claimed to be omnibenevolent..."
Her eyes lifted toward the galaxy above.
"...somewhere across this vast existence that emanated from me, an uncountable number of beings are suffering."
The wind moved through the grass around us.
"Not necessarily because I designed existence to be filled with suffering..."
A pause.
"...but because I allowed existence to come to be in the first place."
Silence followed.
"Of course, I know not everything that happens is my fault. I'm not omnibenevolent or perfect."
She let out a small breath.
"But still..."
Then she looked back at us over her shoulder.
A bitter smile rested on her lips.
"It stings nonetheless."
Her hands clasped behind her back as she leaned forward slightly. The bitterness from earlier already gone, replaced by the grin she usually wore.
"It's the result of letting everything have free will," she said casually. "So no, suffering isn't directly my fault."
A small shrug.
"I'm probably just digging too deep into it."
She turned back toward the stars, stretching her arms overhead while a soft yawn slipped from her lips.
"Hnn~"
"Gosh... running an entire overarching existence is exhausting."
Then her gaze drifted toward Liscia standing a step ahead of me.
Her smile softened slightly.
"Wouldn't you agree..."
A brief pause.
"Liscia?"
Liscia stayed silent for what felt like ages.
Her head lowered slightly, fingers tightening into fists before slowly loosening again.
Then, she finally looked up.
"You..." her voice faltered. "Are you trying to make me feel bad for you...?"
"Not at all~"
Liscia's shoulders trembled faintly.
"...Do I look that stupid to you?"
Her voice cracked sharply through the silence.
"Anathasia Veridielle Augthoria?"
She suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Anathasia by the collar.
"Then what the hell was all that supposed to mean?"
Her grip tightened.
"Huh?"
Liscia shook her head slowly, letting out a dry laugh. Her voice trembled slightly.
"You have... everything I never had."
Her eyes burned into Anathasia's.
"You're worshipped. You have the Outer Gods helping you. You have a family... three daughters..."
Then she pointed at me.
"And most importantly..."
A pause.
"You have Kyle."
Her jaw tightened.
"That Kyle."
Another step forward.
"The real Kyle."
She shoved Anathasia back.
My arm instinctively moved to catch her-
-but stopped midway when Anathasia raised a hand toward me.
"It's fine. No need."
Her voice came out quieter than a whisper.
For a brief second, she looked at me with an expression I couldn't fully understand.
Liscia noticed.
Her gaze flicked toward me before returning to Anathasia again, arms crossing tightly over her chest.
"See?" she muttered bitterly. "Even now, someone still cares about you."
A shaky breath escaped her lips.
"And you still dare complain?"
Her voice rose.
"When I..."
Her fists clenched.
"I fought everything just to get even a fraction of what you have."
A brief pause.
"And somehow..."
Her gaze lowered slightly.
"...I still failed."
Silence.
Then Liscia slowly looked back up at her.
"So what gives you the right to complain?"
Silence settled over the plains.
Only the gentle rustling of wind through the tall grass filled the space between them.
Anathasia met Liscia's gaze without flinching. An expression I rarely saw on her crossed her face.
"Yeah..." she whispered softly, her eyes drifting elsewhere.
"I probably don't have the right to complain."
A brief pause.
"Especially not when I have everything we both wanted."
My arm slowly lowered back to my side.
Liscia stiffened instantly.
Her body went rigid as the words left Anathasia's mouth.
"...A... what?"
"You're right," Anathasia continued quietly, tilting her head slightly.
"I shouldn't be complaining."
A small smile curved on her lips.
"Right?"