[Memories] How Two Lovebirds Spent Their Days: 1
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"Stella, wake up. It's morning already." a soft voice tried to wake her up.
"Mmm.....Five more minutes. Stay like this for a while." Stella groggily said as she snuggled deeper into the person's embrace.
"But if you don't let me get up from bed, how will I make breakfast?" the voice coaxed her as the person's hand slowly caressed her head.
"I'm not hungry. Stay awhile please." Stella pleaded.
"Okay." said the person gently. "Do you want to visit the Oceania world today to fish?"
"Mmm. I'll be happy wherever you take me." Stella replied with a sleepy voice from the person's embrace.
"Then we'll catch some lightning tuna today. You really liked them deep-fried last time. I'll pan-sear them today." The person suggested.
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"Why do I have to wear a life vest? I can swim....I think." Stella complained.
She was sitting on the back railing of a small and mysterious fishing boat with a fishing rod in her hand. The boat looked very rustic, yet futuristic. It was floating freely in a turbulent ocean with a deadly storm. It was a world with just the ocean, without any land.
The boat was rocking dangerously as the waves threatened to swallow the boat whole.
Countless dangerous alien fishes that would even dwarf mountains could be seen from the boat.
But the boat mysteriously never encountered any danger. The waves that resembled tsunamis dispersed as they approached the boat. Hungry and dangerous predators simply turned around when they encountered the unique and lonely object riding the ocean surface.
The boat floated amidst the chaos with an air of serenity.
All of this happened just so that Stella could fish in peace. She was totally unfazed as she sat dangerously on the railing. Not caring in the slightest for her own safety. Because she knew she wouldn't fall. She believed that she would be protected.
Because that person was on the boat, standing beside her,
coaxing her to wear a life vest that would be useless anyway.
"I won't fall. So why do I need to wear a vest?" Stella refused to wear it.
"Who said you won't fall?"
As soon as the person said that, a wave crashed into the boat and Stella started to slip off the railing.
"Eeeek! I'm sorry! Pull me up! Pull me up!" Stella almost fell into the water as she barely held onto the railing.
The person sighed and pulled her up unhurriedly inside the boat.
As soon as she was pulled up, she took her fishing rod and sat on the railing again, still having complete faith in the person standing beside her.
"You see, you're so small and adorable. If you fall into the water, the bad fishes will eat you in one gulp. If you wear this vest, they won't eat you anymore after looking at this ugly vest." The person started coaxing her again.
'What kind of excuse is that? Do you think I'm still a child?' Stella grumbled in her mind.
"Yes, you're technically still a child. At least physically." The person directly answered her thoughts. "And you're short."
Stella sulked.
"You're a meanie. You're the one who's forcing me to stay small." She tried to look very pitiful. But unfortunately, she looked very adorable instead.
"And who are you calling short? You're the shortie!"
After failing to look pitiful, she tried to look angry.
That person chuckled. Then lifted her and gave her a hug.
Stella's heart immediately became soft as if it tried to melt.
As she was in the person's embrace, the haze around that person slowly melted away.
The haze went away as a boy about 15-16 years of age was revealed.
His face was exquisite.
His pitch-black hair had a few streaks of shiny cosmic colors.
His deep blue eyes contained the glitter of stars. Yet his eyes revealed a deep gentleness when he looked at her.
He was radiating a natural charm to his surroundings.
But it was evident that he was suppressing his own charm to the limit for some reason.
But even the slightest of the charm that radiated from him was irresistible.
Stella was still in his embrace, seemingly deep in thought.
He slowly put her down in front and kissed her on the forehead.
Stella slowly raised her head and saw a pair of gentle and caring eyes filled with love.
'Those eyes.... I fall in love with those gentle and caring eyes every day, over and over again.'
Her heart was pounding. She was dazed, staring at those eyes with affection. She couldn't help but let her mind drift away to think about some not-so-subtle things.
"Stella." He gently patted her head. "You're having those silly thoughts again."
"No, no! Wha..... what are you talking about? I didn't think... about... those..." Her face was red as a tomato.
"It's not time for you to focus on these things. When the time comes, I won't stop you anymore." He led her inside the boat.
"Really? When???" She tried to stay calm, but her heart started pounding heavily.
"I'm not forcing you to stay little anymore. So I won't stop you anymore when you grow up." He replied to her.
"So we'll finally consummate??" She was so excited she almost started jumping.
"Hmm. You just have to grow up, and then you can do whatever you want to do. So don't try to have such silly thoughts right now and definitely don't try anything silly again while we're sleeping. Okay?"
"Okay! You promise?" Stella was on cloud nine.
"I promise" He replied.
"If you try anything silly in bed again, I won't let you play games for an entire week. " He warned her again.
"Mmm. I won't try to do anything. I....pr... uh, you have my word!" Stella nodded her head like a chicken.
"Lies." He sighed.
'How is she supposed to achieve the [Consciousness of Eternity] if she's so lovestruck?
I'll have to let her experience life by herself for a few years without me. I've never used any of my actual powers in front of her, so it should be easier for her to forge the [Concept of Reality] by herself. I guess it's time to tell her about me. I should start unsealing some of the powers that I gifted her.'
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"So, you've beaten the first boss already?" He asked.
"Mmm." Stella replied as she rolled on their bed playing games on her handheld console that she brought back when they visited a highly advanced Automata Reality.
"Good. Stop playing for now. You've played for two hours already after dinner."
"Okay~" Stella chirped as she turned off the console, put it inside her bag, and then changed into her small silky white nightdress, then climbed onto the bed again.
"So what do you want to do tomorrow?" He asked as he arranged the pillow for her.
"Um....Let's visit a world that has dragons. I want to pet one." Stella said as she laid down on the bed and snuggled in his embrace.
"Alright, we'll go to a world filled with dragons tomorrow." he said as he pulled up the blanket.
"Mmm." Stella gave a short reply, staring at him with her cute big eyes, seemingly waiting for something.
"Stella...."
"...Yes?" She opened her eyes further.
"You'll have to go on a journey soon." He spoke to her as he pulled her cheek.
"Where? Are we going to stay there for a long time?" Stella asked.
"No, This time.... You're going alone."
"Alone? But...." She was taken aback by his answer.
"Well, don't you want to grow up? You'll grow up if you go on this journey, alone. You know what that means?" He explained to her.
"Mmm." Stella finally understood what was going on. She could grow up now. She wasn't going to be stuck as a small girl anymore. And after she grows up, she'll finally be able to be intimate with him without getting stopped immediately. She was happy, extremely happy.
But her excitement vanished as soon as it came.
It dawned on her that he had a condition. A condition that was the cruelest thing possible for her. A condition that'll tear her apart.
She had to leave his side and go on this journey, alone.
"...You're being too cruel. Why do you have a condition that'll tear me apart? I can't live without you. I can't do this.
I won't go. I would rather stay small like this than ever leave your side." Tears started to form in her eyes.
"No, Stella, you're thinking about this the wrong way. You're the most precious thing in my life and I'll never let you suffer like this. Never. I naturally have a solution, albeit not perfect." He consoled her.
"...What is it?" She spoke with a shaky voice.
"I'll temporarily seal your memories about me."
"...." Stella was silent.
She started sobbing.
".....Stella, what's the most important thing in your life?" He asked.
"It's you! You big dummy!" She burst out crying.
"You're the most important thing in my life too. You don't know how many things have changed because of you." He spoke softly.
Stella hugged him tighter as she kept crying. She had never seen him look so apologetic before. She knew she had to go.
She couldn't even imagine a day without him, let alone years.
He gently caressed her back as she cried more and more.
After a couple of minutes, she finally got hold of herself and stopped crying.
But she didn't have any plans to loose her tight grip around him.
He gently wiped the tears off her face.
"I want to protect you, Stella. I can protect you from everything else, but I cannot protect you from yourself." He tried to explain.
"What do you mean?" Stella looked up at him with watery eyes.
"You do realize we're not normal, right?"
"Hmm. I realized that long ago." She slowly nodded her head.
"It's time, So I should tell you some things about me."
"...Okay." Stella nodded as her eyes suddenly cleared up.
"Stella, we've visited countless worlds in different universes and realities. So you've seen many things. Worlds filled with magic, marvelous technologies, beings with terrifying power, creatures with mystical abilities.... You've seen it all. So you should've concluded that Gods exist, right?" He asked.
"Yes. Although I don't exactly know what kind of existence can be called a God." She nodded her head.
"The number of realities are infinite. And so, Gods are endless too. There are Gods with various amounts of power. Some only rule over the world, some rule over the galaxy, some rule over the universe, some rule over the cosmos... Some rule over entire realities. The abilities of the Gods vary too. Some are focused towards maintaining worlds and realities, some focused towards creation, some focused towards destruction." He started to explain.
Stella listened to his explanation intently.
"Each God has its own motives and goals. They create universes, realities, life forms. Then either rule over them or leave them on their own.
Infinite Gods, Infinite realities, Infinite beings. These symbolize [All of Creation].
Everything is born from a single source within it.
But then, another question arises. Who is the one responsible for [All of Creation]? Who governs infinity within it? Who takes care of the infinite amount of realities that [All of Creation] embodies?"
He finally stopped explaining.
".....Who?" Stella tried to make sense of what he was building his explanation towards.
"The Primordials." He answered her.
As soon as she heard their name, she could feel her soul tremble and resonate with something.
"There are nine of them. They are eternal and invincible beings. They are the ones responsible for [All of Creation]. They created the Gods, gave them the power to create realities, worlds, living beings. They are detached from the Axis of Reality itself, existing in the Void, Ever-eternal, All-powerful."
He finished his explanation.
Stella was speechless. She had a hard time processing what he told her. This was a lot to take in.
But she found something odd. How did he know all this? How does it connect to him? He forgot to tell her anything about himself.
"So what about you? You didn't tell me anything about yourself despite explaining all this." She asked.
He smiled and gave her nose a gentle rub.
"Me? I'm the one who created the Primordials.
I'm Origin, the source of all beings. The Primordials call me 'The Creator'."
Stella's mouth opened wide in shock.
She couldn't form any words to come out of her mouth.
He waited for a while so that she could reel back from her shock.
"Wha... what? How? But you're...." Stella was confused.
"What's there to be confused about? I'm the same old person you've seen since you were little. That's all that matters." He explained to her as he kissed her on the cheek.
Stella finally regained her senses.
"....That's right, you're my same old.... Zero. And that's all that matters." Stella smiled as she climbed onto his chest.
"Hmm, but isn't it time to know who you are?" He smiled.
"Who am I?" Stella tilted her head.
"You are... the 10th Primordial." He dropped a big ball on her.
Stella slipped as she fell on him.
"What???" Stella was flabbergasted.
"Mmm, but you're much different. I created you with a soul. The Primordials don't have souls, you see. I created them to govern [All of Creation]. So, I immediately granted them power that can be considered infinite to prepare for their responsibility, and no soul would've been able to sustain it." Zero replied to her.
"I..... I need some time to process all this." Stella felt she couldn't breathe.
"It's okay. Calm down." He waited for her to calm down.
And then he continued to drop another big ball on her, "The other Primordials are dying."
"What?? Aren't they eternal? How are they dying??" Stella was shocked again.
"No, they're not actually dying. They are indeed eternal. They will never die unless they specifically request that I end their life. I created them a long long time ago. They were my first creations and already hundreds of quintillions of years passed till then.
They couldn't protect their consciousness from the flow of time. After such a long time, they're losing their sense of self, their personality.
They're turning into non-sentient beings.
Because they failed to achieve [Consciousness of Eternity]. Their existence is eternal, but their consciousness is still bound to time.
They're losing themselves. And I'm losing my first creations, my first companions...."
".....I'm sorry." Stella could feel his vexation.
"But you can help them right? They don't have to lose themselves like this...." Stella asked him.
"I can, but they won't be the same person anymore. I'll have to cut out most of their consciousness and replace them with new ones.
So they would rather live their last moment as themselves than become a different person altogether, finally losing their sentience and becoming a non-sentient Primordial, carrying on their duties faithfully.
And that's why I've never loved or become close to someone before. Because, in the end, they would still fade away, even if I grant them eternal life.
They would either lose their sense of self or become someone else, as billions, trillions, quadrillions, quintillions of years pass."
"Zero.... Do I also have to leave you like that one day? Would I lose my sense of self?" Stella felt lost and scared as she thought about fading away from existence.
"No, I won't let you. You are the only one in [All of Creation] that can achieve [Consciousness of Eternity].
"You're much more different than the other Primordials. You have a soul. You're actually much more powerful than all the other Primordials combined. I've created you with the goal of letting you achieve [Consciousness of Eternity].
And, going on this journey alone is crucial for you. It's just a few years. You'll be back before you realize it."
Zero explained to her.
"But why do I have to go without you?" She felt her stomach churning as she even thought about it.
"If I go with you, you'll never step out of your comfort zone, never face the truth of mortality and the cruelty it brings. You need to find some aspects of your life alone, without me. Those things are crucial for you to achieve [Consciousness of Eternity]. You'll be able to come back in just a few years. And after that, we can continue the journey, together. Just like now. " Zero replied.
".....I understand." Stella slowly nodded her head. "But why did you force me to stay small?"
Zero sighed. "Stella..."
"Hmm?" She looked at him.
"Do you realize how lovestruck you are?" He asked.
"I know that, and?" Stella replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"....."
"....."
"Do you think, if you were to be grown up physically already, you'd stay still while we're in bed?
"...No.....I... What.... What are you talking about?" Stella felt her face become red as a tomato getting her thoughts called out like this.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. The moment we become sexually intimate, your existence as a whole will [Ascend] to something beyond a Primordial.
It's not a simple matter at all.
At that time, it would be impossible to let you go on a journey alone after your [Ascension]. The feelings inside your soul would be impossible to suppress. So your soul would suffer terribly, regardless of your memories being sealed or not.
I can't let you suffer like that." He explained.
"Hmmph! You're acting as if I'm not suffering right now." As she heard his explanation, Stella seemed angry. Really really angry.
"No, you're n...." Zero tried to refute her.
"Shut up! Don't say another word!"
She climbed onto his stomach and then kissed him on the lips.
Although she was quite angry on the outside, she was inwardly shocked to see that he didn't stop her.
'I finally did it!' She was dancing in joy in her mind.
She finally parted their lips after a long while.
"Stella...." Zero softly caressed her head.
"Hmm? it's fine, right? As long as we don't have sex...." She trailed off.
"Sigh. Looks like your actions will be getting bolder and bolder.
But I can read your mind, you know. I know the thoughts of all beings.
And the excitement in your mind is really concerning."
Zero said in a low voice.
"Eeeek!"
Stella knew she was busted. Now that she knew his identity, she realized it was indeed the case, he could read her mind. She finally found out why her antics and advancements always failed.
"Am I getting punished? No games for an entire week?"
She sulked.
Zero smiled, "No. you're not getting punished. You're right. I've been too strict with you.
So as long as you don't go too far, it's alright."
Stella stared at him with wide eyes.
'He really meant it. He really really meant it! As long as we don't have sex, it should be fine. Hehehe, in that case, I'll...' She started forging some more nefarious 'antics' to perform but got bonked in the head.
"Ouch!" She rubbed her head and looked at Zero to see him staring at her weirdly.
"Sigh. You win. I give up. I realized I'll never be able to fix your mentality without using my powers. Go on, do whatever you want." Zero gave up on stopping her.
"Creatures like these that have such weird thoughts... It's damaging for one's sanity to even read their mind.
This is the exact reason all the Primordials refused when I tried to give them the power of [Omniscience].
They'd go crazy already if they read the thoughts of an infinite amount of such creatures each passing moment until eternity like me."
Zero grumbled to himself.
Stella heard his rambling and was stunned. 'Oh my, is he cursing?' She had never seen him angry in her life.
But she completely ignored the obvious remarks about her as usual.
"No. Sigh. I'm a bit fed up knowing everything. That's all. I have to seal a part of my memory every time to enjoy a new movie with you. And that's the least of my problems." Zero replied directly inside her mind.
"Ah, I see." Stella understood what he was getting at.
"I'll unseal your Primordial body and soul now. And then I'll unseal some of your abilities. But your Primordial form is sealed, for now, if I unseal your Primordial form, you'd grow up immediately, and that would be.... bad. " Zero explained.
"It would be fantastic." Stella corrected him.
"Uh-huh. Now I've set that, unsealing your Primordial form will also forcibly unseal and activate [Omniscience] that I gifted you, unlike other Primordials. Let's see how you fare." Zero grinned.
"Meanie." Stella didn't know how [Omniscience] would feel, but she knew even her peers, terrifying and omnipotent Primordials refused to have this ability.
"Alright. Time for you to sleep now. You're not an early bird by any means." Zero reminded her.
"Okay~" Stella replied happily as she sealed their lips together again.
"Good night, Zero."
"Mmm. Good night, Stella"
They snuggled together as she tried to fall asleep.
But there was an itch in her mind as she hadn't asked him something today yet.
It was a daily routine for her to ask this question every day before falling asleep.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Stella whispered in his ears gently.
"Sigh. Yes... Yes, you did."
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[A/N: How did you like the special chapter?
Aaaaaaaand....
The male lead is finally revealed! Our very own, humble, and gentle, Zero!
[Memories] is a multi-series sub-story that'll give us crucial lore and information.
And most importantly, Stella and Zero's Lovey-Dovey interactions before the point where the main story started.
It's a storyline with a reversed flow. Which means we'll see Stella become smaller and smaller in this story, while she grows up in the main storyline!
Pretty awesome right?]