Chapter 159: Forever and ever...

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Somewhere on the Other Side, in a beautiful world vibrant with life, where mountains were seen piercing the sky. in his eyes, the whole thing just looked like a huge and bright bulb with stardust in it. 

"Old man, is it really fine to let him go like that?" The handsome practitioner who fought Edam asked while looking at the back of his master.

Curiously, the master whom he called Old man wasn't old at all. He was young in fact, with clear black eyes and long silky hair tied into a bundle. But the guy's eyes were filled with profoundness and wisdom.

"..." The 'Old Man's' was frowning and silent for a long while. "Can't you feel it?"

"What? Feel what?" The handsome man wore a questioning expression before extending his senses.

And after a full minute, his scalp grew numb as his expression turned into shock.

"Wh- the the entire Realm is shaking?" Though he said shaking, it was more akin to shivering, shivering so minuscule that it could only be noticed by people of their level, that is to say only a handful in their Realm.

A hint of worry flashed in the Old Man's eyes as he spoke. "His slumber has ended and his power is once again moving around, causing troubles.…"

"What? What does that mean?"

"... To my knowledge, the Realm of Eternal Void is the only realm that can invade other Realms…" 

"Uh, isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"If only that was only "dangerous', it would be a blessing already… but we can't even fight it out… A myriad of Realms has already fallen to this…"

"This is madness, why is that man doing that then?!"

"Well, that is the worst part of it, a tragedy for him only, as he cannot control it… Over time, the other old geezers and I too have just viewed it as a doom, an end to the beginning…"

"It is said that the Realm of the Void wasn't always devoid of anything, it was a Realm full of life… till he developed a consciousness, he devoured everything afterward… he was here from the beginning and will ever be…"

"What can we do then?" The other guy asked with worry. He had a lot of people that he cared about after all.

The Old Man took a glance at him before looking forward again. "The end will eventually strike us, but we living beings are all reluctant to go, so we all found a solution or so…"

"We had to kill his reincarnation each time he awakened from his slumber…"

"What?!"

"Hmm, you hear it well, his physical reincarnation is the vessel and the necessary condition to the expansion to the Eternal Void Realm, we found out that killing the vessel can slow down the expansion… however, his soul is Immortal, Eternal and Indestructible…"

A particular question had been buzzing him off for a long time now. "Why didn't we kill him when he was a kid then?" His question was overly cruel and selfish but what had to be asked had to be asked.

"Hmph, killing him in our Realm is only asking for trouble, like bad grasses planted in a good plot of land… and we have already tried to send him home, but the damnable Grand Priest of the Omni-King sent him back, fuck!"

The younger man was rather stunned, it was rare to see the old man cursing out loud.

But the fake old man quickly calmed down and continued with what looked like a sad expression. 

"The numbers of Dimensions and Realms that fell were countless… and the brat perhaps suffered the most out of all, condemned to see those he loved to disappear because of himself while he lived on forever… a curse that only a handful in existence can understand and sympathize with…"

"I see…" The young guy pondered quietly. Even a rash and arrogant guy like himself felt sorry for his miserable existence. "What should we do then?"

"Well…" The fake old man squinted his eyes.

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Back to Edam's side… 

Looking at the recently stolen and now owned Universe, Edam's cold red eyes brightened with a tender feeling, as he smiled sincerely. His heartbeat was up in excitement as he felt his soul returning to him.

In his eyes, the whole thing looked like a huge and bright bulb with stardust in it. Though, in this vast realm that was the Realm of the Void, it might as well be a speck of dust but anyway…

"Finally, back home…" As he said that, his body flashed and he entered the bulb Universe.

In outer space, he came face to face with his home planet, that blue planet. He could also see the other planets and natural satellites of the few planets, as well as the sole humongous sun of this solar system.

"Uh, Master, who were they?" Even someone as old as Yamote didn't know who they were and asked out of curiosity.

"Never mind them…" Edam replied with his eyes still fixated on the blue planet as if in a trance, before moving suddenly. 

It wasn't teleportation, but his speed was enough to travel a long distance in the blink of an eye, and so, he rapidly reached the blue planet, passing by Red Line, crossing Calm Belt to finally stop in front of Amazon Lily.

He technically could have crossed the distance in one step given his proficiency in space laws but he didn't see the need to do that, his speed was enough.

However, as he was about to take another step forward, anxiety that came from his soul itself surged and occupied all his thoughts. 

Weird thoughts like 'This is not a good idea', 'It will happen again, 'They are gonna disappear', 'This is my fault', 'I shouldn't exist, 'She is better off without me', 'I will be a bad father' 'I'm cursed!'...

'I… I don't wanna lose them…' His mind was being torn with his fears, incertitude, and his attachment and his love. 

 He tried to shake this thought.

"But, I… I don't want to be separated from them…" However, regardless of everything, his eyes shone with determination as he resolutely decided to go on.

However, not sensing neither Hancock nor his baby's life forces, he extended his senses and pinpointed their auras on Rusukaina along with a few others, some of which were familiar to him but which were clearly not supposed to be there in normal times.

He flashed again and found himself in the sky as he looked down. With his spiritual, or more like divine senses now, he easily perceives everything on the island with the weird oddities as well.

However, he totally ignored everything else. By now, he truly couldn't care less anymore about anything else. These few months for him felt like millions of years of being away from them making him miss his family so much.

However, as he spots the love of his life, he sees a very interesting scene, one that if it was another man would have infuriated them to no end.

Hancock was stroking his other self's hair in a caring and motherly way while laughing at his jokes. She wore a very loose Kuja-made laced dress to accommodate her pregnancy. It fluttered and seemed to possess a soul on its own as it hid and then revealed her gorgeous long legs. She was never one to be shy and never liked to be restrained by her clothes, always opting for a comfortable dress.

But, this instead, brought a mischievous smile to his face. 

All these oh so grand Godly things that he saw earlier and all his fears were completely blown away at her sight, knowing that the most important person in his life was right before his eyes.

Flashing once again, he appeared right above them.

"Sigh~ and here I was risking my life out there, just to see my beloved in another man's arms at my return, is this the infamous NTR?" Edam's voice sounded out with false melancholy and sadness.

And, at his sudden apparition, both the clone and Hancock were startled like two scared birds. They truly looked like they had cheated on someone though, it was mostly because of the sudden surprise.

While Hancock stood up with a shocked face to look in the direction of the voice, in the next instant, her goddess-like features quickly beamed a beautiful smile filled with uncovered happiness as she saw him with her own eyes.

"You're back!" She jumped and crossed the long-distance separating them and flew right into his arms in a rather fierce manner. Such a move would normally not be advised for a pregnant woman but Hancock was everything but a weak woman.

Seeing her flying into his arms as graceful and beautiful as a fairy, his eyes that were already filled with tenderness at her sight only melted even more, as he opened his arms wide open to catch her in the gentlest way humanity has seen till this day.

"I'm back… lovely sneaky princess…" Catching her, he smiled gently and stroked her soft silky black, while planting a Kiss on her forehead.

As she hugged him with all her heart and soul, Hancock couldn't help but indulge in his scent with pure bliss on her face, giving a lovely pink glow to her countenance.

Edam's clothes were torn and worn from his fight with Zamasu and Black but weirdly enough, they were surprisingly clean and devoid of dust, mud, blood, and odors, giving a refreshing scent to it.

She didn't shed a tear for having him back mostly because, well, she had his other self to soothe her.

"My little wifey, I should sue you for betrayal…" Edam teased with a smile.

"Hmph, will you dare?" She gave a slight glare and hmphed naughty with a small smile, before laying her head on his chest peacefully.

"Nope, your wish is my command, your Majesty…" Edam said before bringing his mouth to her ear, his breath caressing her skin. 

"Although, If it wasn't for your special condition, I would eat you up right now…"

Her face turned into a bright red in an instant, as she slightly pushed him away, and said with an embarrassed expression. "You, bad boy, don't say that, the baby can hear you!"

"Ah…" Edam came back to his senses and hurriedly squatted to face her belly and said with a sheepish smile. "Uh, haha, hi in there, don't mind what your daddy said okay? This bad mouth of mine is too naughty and needs discipline…"

"Did you see that my babies, your bad daddy is bullying me…" Hancock caressed her tummy and feinted a pitiful tone.

Edam shrugged his shoulders and looked at his other-self. "So, are you able to feel jealousy?"

Hearing him, the other Edam felt the urge to smack his true self's head in annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah, jealous as hell, now make it quick, or I will snatch Hancock away…" Other Edam rolled his eyes and gestured to him to speed up. "A lot happened, thankfully, you're back…"

Edam looked at his other self and smiled feebly and patted his other self's shoulder. "You suffered huh…"

"Oh, you will quickly understand… the fact that I left the World Government still living is a miracle…I'm amazed at myself…" The other-self replied as he glowed a bright light, before slowly turning translucent, about to disappear.

"Uh…um…" Hancock lifted her hand wanting to say something to the other Edam but hesitated.

The disappearing other Edam at first wore a dumbfounded expression before smiling knowingly at his original self.

"Is the Princess's heart torn between two sides…?" The other Edam laughed softly feeling very amused by this turn of events. Not only he but the original too was laughing at that, not angry at all, but finding this situation to be quite adorable.

"What? I'm not! Hmph!" She pouted her lips cutely.

"What's the deal, can't bear to part with either of us?" The original Edam said with a teasing smile.

As expected, and understanding the underlying meaning, Hancock blushed instantly like a red tomato. "You're both are bad grass…"

"Well, you know, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree…" The other Edam was the one to speak as he then turned toward Hancock with a gentle smile.

"...You're still gonna disappear…" She sighed depressingly for all their memories were genuine and weren't just limited to being fake memories made with a replacement.

"Haha…" The other Edam laughed softly and walked toward her. "Silly, you can be so silly at times…"

"I'm not silly!" Her watery eyes grew a little angry with what looked like tears on the brim to fall.

"Alright, alright, babe Hancock is not silly… I indeed have my own free will even in front of my true self and I am indeed but a clone and not the original…"

"And most importantly, you can't ask me stay separated from my true self..." The other self shook his head with an admamant determination.

"...?"

"I mean, hey, little princess, you're being too cruel to me, I too am a part of the being called Edam, okay? And I want to love you forever okay? I can't do so if I'm just a separate part, so spare me and let me merge alright?"

"Hmm..." Hancock seemed to pondered over this case for a few secs before nodding with a sigh of relief. "Okay then, I just didn't want to hurt you even if you are a clone..."

"Heh…" The clone laughed and patted his true self's shoulders. "What are you talking about, I'm here, right by your side... listen, it is true that I'm a clone but more than that, I am another part of Edam, as small as it can be I am still him too, our memories together won't disappear, they will become a gathered in my original to form not just my memories but my Life by your sides..."

"There is also another truth, a truth that my original and myself recognize as even more true than everything else…" The other Edam stroked her nose and kissed her forehead, before looking into her purple watery eyes.

"No matter if I am the original, the complete soul… or that I am but a mere part of a soul… no matter if my soul is shattered into a billion pieces… My love for you will remain unwavering…" His body was already starting to disappear.

Staring into her beautiful eyes, his already gentle smile turned even softer, willing to lose himself into her gaze at all times.

"Forever and ever…" His face gave a very beautiful smile as it disappeared into particles of lights, slowly going to the original one, like a lost boat returning home.

The original Edam looked at that with a gentle expression, having nothing to say and not wanting to break his other self's 'last moments'.

'Am I really such a good poet?'

After all, in the end, his other self's words were nothing more than their deepest feelings for her.

Hancock stayed silent for a while looking blankly in the air, with some small teardrops falling down. She felt so stupid to cry for a mere clone, but she just couldn't help it.

Even though she knew that he would merely be returning to the original. The way he disappeared just reminded her that this scene could actually happen to the true self too. A possibility that was breaking her heart into pieces even though it didn't actually happen. This simple thought was enough to terrify her thoroughly.

She really didn't want to experience that…

After a long moment of silence, Hancock finally broke it. "What part of your soul was it…?"

Edam smiled when he heard her question and replied softly.

"When I separated my soul to take care of you, my priority was your absolute security, its duty was to ensure your wellbeing… and to make sure that he would love you as much as it should, I put all my feelings and love for you into this one soul…"

"After all, my love shall always remain by your side right?"

Turning in his direction, her eyes burst with even more tears as she launched herself on him silently crying her heart out, hitting his chest with her small and dainty fists. "…You… You only know how to sweet talk, you dumb idiot..."

"Yes, yes… your servant dumbass here…" Edam wore a defenseless smile against her assault and let her do as she pleased.

"This also counts as bullying me! And you're not allowed to bully me!"

This completely dumbfounded Edam. "Wait what? What part is bullyi-..."

"You're not allowed!"

"Huh?!" This unreasonableness was only found in these special creatures named women. Even a God like him couldn't decipher the depth of their complex natures.

"Be- Be quiet…" She hid her pretty little face inside his chest, her face pretty red by realizing how her words didn't make sense. She just held onto him as if her life depends on it, wanting to melt and merge with his entire being.

However, Edam didn't care at all, for him all the arguments that they could have would always be her wins in the end. He would only pursue it to tease her a bit and then give up mid-way. 

"Hey…" 

"...?" 

Edam softly pinched her chin and lifted her face, and looked right into her eyes.

"I love you…"

"Hehe, what is that for, soothing me again?" She laughed gently and wiped her tears.

Edam slightly shook his head with a smile before lowering his head to steal her lips.

It was soft but strong and warm, bringing comfort and love through his kisses. It wasn't an invasive french kiss at all but just a simple one charged with love.

And while she was a bit taken by surprise by such a sudden attack, she rapidly recovered her spirit and reciprocated his kiss happily.

Did destiny play a part in it? Hell no, these two were far from being their fated half, and yet this didn't hold them back from finding Love in each other's embrace.

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