The night sky above was clear, with no clouds in sight, and only a sparse scattering of dim stars stretched across the vast darkness.
Lying on his back beneath that quiet sky was a teenage boy dressed in black shorts and a plain grey t-shirt, the colour of which mirrored the hue of his eyes. His black hair was slightly unkempt, streaked faintly with white highlights that stood out under the faint starlight.
He was sprawled in a starfish position on top of a thick sheet of ice, nearly three feet deep.
The world all around him was frozen solid, buildings entombed in layers of crimson-gold ice, along with their infernal devil inhabitants, their expressions of horror immortalised in the crystalline prison.
So were simply frozen solid, others had been turned to stone before being entombed in ice, and a few had shattered into pieces after both petrification and freezing.
This frozen domain stretched nearly a dozen kilotres in every direction, and at its centre, Evan lay still, staring up at Taemia’s cloudless night sky.
He remained there for an unknown length of ti, until footsteps echoed through the otherwise silent area, followed by a familiar voice asking,
"What’cha doin’?"
Evan didn’t bother shifting his gaze since he already knew who it was.
"Counting stars."
At that, the person glanced up at the cloudless sky, then back at him.
"This is a rather strange place to count stars. You can barely see them."
"I felt like sleeping, so I figured I’d count stars until I drifted off," Evan replied, eyes still fixed on the sky.
"And that would explain why your report is over an hour late."
His conversation partner sighed, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a communication device before speaking into it.
"Arty, let Caeril and the others know that Evan’s already turned the entire place into a frozen wasteland. No survivors.
You can move ahead with the rest of the plan."
[Tell him not to turn off his communicator in the middle of an important operation!]
Artemisia clicked her tongue after saying that and ended the transmission, prompting Beatrix to chuckle as she put the device away and turned to Evan.
"You heard her."
"I didn’t turn it off. I was attacked while using it, and it got destroyed," Evan replied calmly, eyes still fixed on the night sky.
Beatrix narrowed her eyes slightly at the sight of him lying there like that.
’He’s finished his role in this operation, and so have I... so it’s now or never.’
With that thought, her expression returned to the usual, and she walked over to him, sitting down on the ground to his left.
Sliding a rubber band from her wrist, she tied her long white hair into a simple ponytail and asked,
"Hey, Evan."
"??"
"Coming to the past...do you regret that it happened?"
Her question finally caused Evan’s body to move for the first ti in over an hour. He turned to look at her briefly, then faced the sky again before answering.
"How can I regret sothing that wasn’t my choice to begin with?"
"Hmm... I suppose I didn’t phrase that properly."
Beatrix rubbed her chin as she spoke, then, after a short pause, asked another question.
"After everything you’ve gained since coming to the past, if you had the chance to relive the mont you were sent back, would you let it happen again?"
"I will..."
"You will?" Beatrix turned to him, her brown eyes widening slightly in surprise, but then the rest of Evan’s reply followed.
"...do everything in my power to stop it."
"...even after all you gained?"
Beatrix asked again, a note of skepticism in her voice, but Evan replied just as calmly as before.
"Even though coming here allowed to et several new people, uncover many truths, and grow far stronger than I ever could have in just eight months back on Aidos, I would still do everything within my power to stop myself from being sent to the past, just so I wouldn’t have to live with the constant worry and anxiety over the companions I left behind, right in the middle of a battle against Fallen Celestial Deities, who may or may not have Trump Cards I knew nothing about."
At those words, Beatrix glanced at the ring catching the light on Evan’s left hand and nodded.
"I see..."
"I asked Artemisia to do whatever she possibly could to support my companions in the future, but I have no idea how much she’ll be able to help, considering the state of things when I left."
The mont Artemisia’s na was ntioned, a strange look crossed Beatrix’s face. She placed a hand on her chest and took a deep breath before turning to Evan with a question.
"Hey... you really don’t know in the future?"
"I’ve said it before. I had no idea of the existence of a ’Beatrix Xagna’ until after I ended up on Aramis."
Evan wasn’t lying, and Beatrix knew that. He also knew she was aware of that fact, which made him wonder why she was suddenly bringing it up again after all this ti.
"I already answered this months ago. Why are you asking it again now?"
Beatrix replied,
"Because I find it strange. You know Arty in the future, and you two clearly have so kind of mysterious relationship, yet sohow, I’m not involved at all.
I an, I know myself. Even if I mature over the next 10,000 years, the core of who I am would NOT change. That’s why I find it weird that I wouldn’t be hanging around Arty when you’re in the picture. Even if it was just to see the version of Evan who doesn’t realise he’s gonna be sent back in ti, or just to ss with you for the fun of it."
That definitely did sound like sothing Beatrix would do, and because she knew it too, she couldn’t help but find it strange that Evan didn’t know the future her.
"Arty didn’t ntion at all? Not even sothing I said or did?"
At that, Evan was silent for a mont before he responded.
"Artemisia did ntion sothing you did, although she never said your na outright."
"Really?" Beatrix turned to Evan, her eyes lighting up with interest.
"Yes. She ntioned a ’certain goddess’ who chased a demon across planets because she was in love with him."
"...yeah, that’s definitely sothing I did."
Beatrix chuckled after replying, then lay back on the ground, resting her head on Evan’s arm as she asked,
"Anything else worth ntioning?"
Another brief silence followed before Evan responded.
"Well, it’s not sothing Artemisia said, but after knowing you for eight months and the release of my Vision Seal, I’m positive you’re the one behind a few specific things."
"And would you say those things were good or bad to you?"
When Beatrix posed the question, Evan responded sowhat ambiguously.
"That depends on how you define ’good’ or ’bad.’"
Upon hearing that, Beatrix sat up, narrowed her eyes at him, and then concluded,
"I see. So they were ’bad’."
"And there she goes, completely ignoring what I actually said."
Evan imdiately retorted, and at that, Beatrix, chuckling as she lay back down, replied,
"Evan, we’ve only known each other for eight months, but I think that’s enough ti for to understand your thought process to so extent."
She rolled to the right, facing Evan directly as she continued,
"You’re a fairly straightforward person, and one thing I’ve picked up is that you don’t like to lie if you can avoid it.
When asked a question you’d rather not answer, you won’t lie. You’ll either give a half-truth, change the subject, respond cryptically, or outright say you’re not going to answer.
In this case, you went with option C.
If whatever you think I did was sothing you considered ’good’ and it benefited you, you’d probably have said so. If it was sothing you couldn’t reveal because it’s tied to the future, then you would’ve gone with option D.
But the answer you gave ans it definitely wasn’t sothing you liked."
As soon as Beatrix finished, Evan raised an eyebrow and asked,
"You got all that from one little line I said without putting much thought into it?"
"A single line can hold a thousand anings."
Beatrix replied as she sat up again, reached for Evan’s left arm, and lifted it, her eyes fixed on the ring it bore.
"What are you doing?"
"Admiring your engagent ring. It’s so pretty. I can see why you don’t wear it all the ti. I wouldn’t want it getting damaged if it were mine."
’If he’s wearing it now, that ans he rembered his fiancée and felt hosick, huh?’
The thought crossed Beatrix’s mind before she asked, small lights twinkling in her brown eyes.
"Did you pick it yourself?"
"Had it custom-made."
"I see..." she murmured aloud.
’I see...’ she echoed inwardly, after sensing the reaction from her Unique Skill, which she had already activated before ever walking up to Evan.
Letting go of Evan’s hand and placing it on his stomach, she sighed.
"You know... 10,000 years is a long ti, even for a Deity."
"I think that depends on how long you’ve lived. A million-year-old won’t perceive 10,000 years the sa way a hundred-thousand-year-old would," Evan replied, placing his right hand over his left and gently rubbing the cushion-cut diamond on his ring.
Then, Beatrix said sothing that caused his expression to change for the first ti in this conversation.
"It wouldn’t be right for to apologise now for sothing I end up doing in the future, right?"
Evan’s expression gradually shifted into a frown as he replied,
"Don’t even try it. You’ll only make more pissed off than I already am."
At that response, Beatrix flashed a mischievous grin and latched onto his words.
"More than you ’already are’? So it really was a bad thing after all..."
Evan silently clicked his tongue, realising he’d been had, while Beatrix, still chuckling, went on.
"I wonder what the reason’s going to be."
"How am I supposed to know that?" Evan shot back curtly.
’Well, soone’s clearly not in a good mood...’
Beatrix wisely chose not to press the issue any further, and just as she began thinking of a way to shift the conversation to a different topic without making it seem forced, her communicator beeped.
She pulled it out, and after reading the ssage from Artemisia, she spoke.
"When you’re done counting stars, head back to Tír Síorghlas. Arty says the plan worked.
Bring the head of the Vice-Commander you killed with you."
With that, she stood up, the spatial law energy she had already infused into her arms now flowing from her fingers as a 3D-teleportation circle ford around her.
"Got it," Evan’s response reached her ears just as the teleportation light engulfed her, and she disappeared.
◇ ◇ ◇
Beatrix reappeared in the nearest Spirit-controlled city and used a series of waypoints to make her way back to Tír Síorghlas.
Along the way, she greeted the people she had grown familiar with over the past few months, eventually heading toward the outskirts of the city and into the cosy house at the centre of a small forest.
She went straight to her room, shut the door behind her, then leaned against it and slowly slid down to the floor.
Naturally, Artemisia, who was drying her hair after a shower, gave her a puzzled glance.
"What’s with you?"
"Hey, Arty..."
"What?" Artemisia asked, tossing the towel aside and picking up a hair dryer to finish the job.
"Do you happen to know any way to erase mories?"
Artemisia froze, turning toward her with an incredulous look.
"No, I don’t. Why would you even ask that?"
Beatrix, smiling wryly, replied,
"I just found out sothing I really wish I hadn’t, and now that knowledge is going to sit in my head for thousands of years, occasionally haunting ."
The unsettling response prompted Artemisia to switch off her hair dryer and set it aside, before turning fully to face the other girl, who remained seated on the floor with her back against the door.
"What on Aidos are you even talking about?" she asked.
But Beatrix didn’t offer a direct answer.
"I wonder... just what am I talking about?"
She laughed self-deprecatingly, leaned her head back, and sighed as she stared up at the ceiling.
Her thoughts drifted to the feedback from her Unique Skill when she had held Evan’s hand under the pretence of admiring his engagent ring.
’To think it was all along...’
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