Gate Guardian - Song Of The Frozen Soul

2ND TIMELINE

I woke up in the Kozukata Shrine and checked the calendar. I"m back to a fifteen-year-old teen again, with blurry memories of the past. All I know is that I have finally activated the power to return back in time to save Rikkun.

But for this particular lifetime, it was different.

I never met Rikkun at my childhood. Even our memories together… those fireworks and his heroic deeds during the burning shrine are slowly fading on my brain. Because those events never existed.

I only met Rikkun on my first day in Dradecim National High School. But things have drastically changed. He has a new childhood friend.

Jeannette Amiella Fontaine von Noctis.

She"s smaller, cuter, smarter, and stronger than me. Combining with the power of her G.o.ddess Core, it is only natural that I will never surpa.s.s a queen like her.

I"m all fine with that until I realized that she stole something from me.

She has Rikkun"s heart. Rikkun"s eyes are just always for her, and her alone. Rikkun only saw me as a best friend or a puppy that should always be protected. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Kozukata Shrine Raid happened again. For the second time, I was defeated by the New Order, and all the shrine maidens were slaughtered. And like the first, Rikkun came to my rescue, only to be beheaded by Void Wolf"s chainsaw sword.

I sang the again.

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3RD TIMELINE

I did all my best just to keep myself away from the shrine. I asked Asumi-nee to buy a condo unit in Dradecim hoping to change the impending future, hoping that the New Order a.s.sault will never commence.

In an attempt to win back Rikkun"s heart, I auditioned in the Idol Club to make myself a lot more popular. But I still failed. His eyes are only meant to look at Jeannette.

And to make it even worse...

Jeannette was corrupted by the Cursed Guardians. She shot his childhood friend straight to the forehead, causing his instant death.

I sang the to repeat everything again.

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137TH TIMELINE

It took me a lot of repeats in order to defeat the corrupted Lord Freya. It"s like I will restart a game just to beat an undeniably hard boss with me having infinite savepoints. She"s a G.o.ddess after all. But surprisingly, I succeeded.

But Rikkun was not happy when he saw his childhood love in the hospital. She"s still alive, but she suffered some irreversible damage.

Because the only way to neutralize her is to break her hands.

"... Are you happy now, Tiara!? … You"ve taken everything away from me."

"...B-But Rikkun… She will kill you if-"

"I DON"T CARE!!!... YOU DON"T KNOW ANYTHING!? YOU NEVER LOVED ANYONE!!! YOU"RE ALREADY ALONE FROM THE VERY START!!! SO STOP TALKING LIKE YOU HAVE ALREADY LOST SOMETHING!!!"

Rikkun didn"t know that I have already lost everything. My family. My honor. My pride. My soul. My future. My love.

I don"t want to be affected by his words since he"s just frustrated and angry at the moment. I"m sure he will cool down after a few days, or weeks, or months. I don"t care if my dearest person hates me forever.

As long as he"s alive, I"m already okay with that... Yes, I"m okay with that.

Suddenly, he picked Jeannette"s revolver and shot his own head.

I have to repeat everything again. So I had to sing.

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1893RD TIMELINE

With the help of the Kozukata Shrine Maidens, we are able to ward off the evil curse from Jeannette. And so, her daily life with her love Alaric continued. He"s not my Rikkun anymore. He"s already happy with his "Amy", so I will not force myself to go between them.

But there is no happily ever after on his story.

He died in the flaming hands of my twin Diadem, and Jeannette blamed me for it. With my purpose already lost, I sang for a thousand more.

<>

I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies. I sing. He dies.

Fate is the most powerful enemy you will ever face. It"s formless, cannot be seen, and imaginary, but it will just show you defeat and shove it to your face. Over and over again. Not even the G.o.ds or the power of the Brightmore Witch to repeat everything is enough to save just one person.

I learned everything the hard way.

The Brightmore Witch is destined to have an unreciprocated love. From my mother to my grandmother, to my great grandmother… Fate is always the same for us cursed witches. We always lose our prince charming either by death, cheating or even insanity.

In my case, it"s a little bit of a mix. Destiny will show me that I was never meant for the one I love. Once it realized that I"m fully okay with it, the universe will conspire and ultimately kill him. It"s as if everything does not want me to have a glimpse of my happiness.

But… I never stopped on attempting to save Rikkun. His deaths may break me a million times, but with determination, I will never give up.

You might say that I"m out of my mind. Yes, I"m already crazy. I will fall in love with him over and over. I will admit that this is a twisted kind of love.

You might say that I should stop and move on. But I won"t. He"s my only light in this eternal suffering. I will do what it takes just to save my only friend. I might fail for eternity, but at least I get to spend more time with him. I could repeat this h.e.l.l forever.

Because being with him is already heaven for me.

Even though he loved someone else. All timelines state that he fell in love with Jeannette Amiella Fontaine von Noctis.

All timelines…

Six million times.

And I…

I haven"t even got a single kiss from him.

It"s always Jeannette, Jeannette, Jeannette, Jeannette!

But I don"t care if we stay forever as friends only. As long as he"s alive and happy…

...I"m happy...