Chapter 1023 1023: Real
?"Oh no, no… no…"
The people who were just minding their own business in the inn could not help but turn quiet as the sound of a woman crying whispered through their ears. Most of them just turned around and went back to whatever it was they were doing, but some just stared at them, wondering what was happening.
Karina, however, did not bother with the attention at all and just continued to sob on her father"s chest.
"It can"t be…" Karina tightened her embrace around Riley, completely wrapping him. She had only been with Lucy and Renna for an extremely brief amount of time, barely even a full day, and yet the kinship she felt for them was extremely deep — she could really only imagine what her father was feeling now.
Riley was silent, completely stoic, even. But since Karina"s ear was literally on his chest, she could feel and hear the slightest fluctuations of Riley"s breathing… as well as the beating of his heart. He wasn"t showing it at all, but Karina knew he was hurt, there was no way he couldn"t be.
Throughout the times that she had been with his father, the only time Riley really expressed real emotions was whenever it involved Aerith or his family.
"Dad…" Karina sucked in a deep breath, trying to stop herself from trying to feel what Riley was feeling. She pulled herself away from him and looked him in his silent eyes, "...Lucy and Renna are—"
"Biggy sis? Why are you crying?"
Karina was trying to hold herself together, but as soon as she felt a tug on her shirt, and looked down to see Enel looking at her; tears in his eyes, although completely unaware of what was happening.
"It"s… it"s nothing, G.o.d… 600 years old," Karina quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as she carried Enel before approaching Death, "Enel… is real?"
"Yes, he is Esme"s child — Esme was with us, she is real," Death closed her eyes.
"I don"t… I don"t understand. How am I real, then? What about the war, was that real?" Karina carried Enel in a way that she could cover his ears.
"I do not know the full details, I was not here the past centuries," Death let out a small hum as she sat at the table that was suddenly free near them, "But judging by the number of people I am feeling in this plane, the war was real — and I also talked with Diana Ross."
"Aerith and Grandma knew…? If this is true, why weren"t we here in the first place?" Karina shared her doubts.
"As I said, I do not know the full details," Death once again shook her head.
"Does… Aunt Hannah know?" Karina took in a small gulp. But before Death could open her mouth, she just left with Enel and joined Talia and Viel at the bar, leaving Death alone with Riley, who joined her at the table.
"...You had your suspicions?" Death looked at Riley, whose face was still completely blank and emotionless.
"Yes," Riley nodded before calling for a server.
"Since when?" Death asked.
"When I realized how content the people were. How perfect they were, or more specifically…" Riley started looking at the menu the server handed to him,
"...How perfect they were for me."
"It can not be just that," Death moved closer to Riley to also look at the menu.
"When Rennalyn was born," Riley closed his eyes; a hint of a smile, crawling on his face, "She was too perfect, and I knew there and then that I did not deserve her at all, Death… nor the life that I have been living…
…New World, it was specifically made for me by Paige Pearson, for me to have a semblance of a normal life."
"Riley Ross," Death also closed her eyes, "It—"
"But you see, Death," Riley opened his eyes, "I am not sad at all, because they are real. They happened, they lived, and they will live…
…They are real to me. My love for them is real, and although I truly do not deserve it, I hope that their love for me is real too."
Karina, who was still listening to their conversation despite being at the bar, could not help but cover her mouth as she tried her best not to cry there and then. Her whimpers, however, did not go unnoticed at all as Viel stood closer to her and offered a gla.s.s of milk to Enel, making him jump from Karina"s lap to get his own stool.
"There is nothing wrong with crying, Karina Ross," Viel tilted his head to the side so his face could be directly in front of Karina; the childishness in his expressions could not hide away the gentleness they contained,
"Have some chocolate, it"s better to be eating something nice while feeling sad. If you"re hungry and sad, oof, that"s bad. You need it too, you"re skinny and don"t have b.o.o.bs."
"Literally, like what the f.u.c.k, dude?" The tears Karina was trying to stop instantly went back in as soon as she heard Viel"s words, "Are you sick in the hea—right. You are, sorry."
"Don"t be," Viel leaned away and giggled, causing Karina to once again take in a small gulp from how beautiful the Eternal Child was, "They are my lifelong friends who has been with me since I apparently yeeted myself out of my dead mother"s v.a.g.i.n.a while I was barely even an embryo, like a blood mucus, you know?"
"No, I don"t know…" But once again, Karina"s small crush disappears whenever he talks, "...Seriously, like what the f.u.c.k is wrong with you? If you just don"t talk, even I"ll probably fall in love with you."
"Well, better keep my mouth shut, then?" Viel then smiled as he looked Karina in the eyes.
"Are you literally hitting on me right now, when I"m f.u.c.ked up from discovering two of my siblings aren"t real?"
"Based on our conversation, you were hitting on me first," Viel then moved back while pretending to zip his lips closed,
"Woosh, completely silent."
"You"re still talking, you—" Karina wanted to say something more, but did not really want to get into another meaningless conversation with the Eternal Child, "I"m going to freaking lose my mind. And you, what is your role in all of this? When was even the last time we saw each other?"
"During the war?" Talia handed Karina a gla.s.s of wine, but Karina refused it. Talia did not seem to mind, however, as she just shrugged, "Me, my mom, and the other variants were leading people away from the danger…
…and we found ourselves here."
"That—wait, what…?" Karina"s eyes widened, "Wait, how long have you been here, then? Does Death know?"
"We… haven"t really talked yet," Talia glanced back at Death, "This is the longest time I"ve been with her, actually. She just approached me one night and told me dad and stuff, that he"s back and if I wanted to meet him — of course, I wanted to meet him, he"s my dad."
"Adoptive dad."
"Where the f.u.c.k did that come from?"
"Sorry, I"m being infected by that Eternal Child," Karina winced at what she just blurted out, "I didn"t mean that. Wait, so if you"ve been here the entire time… does that mean you know what the f.u.c.k is going on?"
"No, I didn"t even know you guys were still alive," Talia let out a small chuckle, "And I didn"t even know about that Outerverse stuff, I just thought we were in some sort of Domain. Wait, does that mean…
…We can be considered Outerversal right now?"
"You read too much comics," Karina rolled her eyes, "And no, Death is Outerversal. Wait, no. Maybe she"s just Hyperversal, considering her siblings have the other roles too and they are only limited to—wait, why are we even talking about this!? I"m supposed to be sad!"
"Considering we don"t even know what we"re doing here, we might as well just talk until something comes up, right?" Talia shrugged before turning to look at Viel, who was now playing with Enel; both of them, trying to figure out who could drink the most milk,
"What about you, Mr. Eternal Child? How strong are you, actually?"
"Me…?" Viel placed a finger on his chin as he hummed, "No idea. But…
…I guess it would take 3 of the 6 Primordials to stop me."
"Stop you? Not kill you?" Karina raised an eyebrow.
"Well…" Viel smiled, but Karina did not fail to notice the little hint of sadness behind it, "...I can"t die."
"Are you seriously telling us that you are stronger than the Primordials? Than Death herself?"
"He is."
Viel did not even need to answer as Death approached the bar, causing Karina and Talia to slightly lower their heads as if they were caught gossiping… which they sort of were,
"Do not be fooled by his friendly behavior, the Eternal Child is an existence that transcends the Primordials in terms of sheer power. And speaking of which, why exactly are you here, Viel?"
"Oh, I was actually planning on killing Mr. Hotshot there," Viel then casually pointed at the table Riley was at, causing Karina and Talia to quickly leap from their stools and protect their father, "Relax…
…It"s not what you think."