Playing Along

"You've broken the loop..."

Elara stood up from Sorin's apartment's sofa, where they sat together. Her shocked expression contrasted with Sorin's calm countenance. She stood there in front of the TV, asking him, "How... what happened?"

Sorin awkwardly answered. "We had a fight, and I won."

Elara blinked at him.

Sorin scooted over the sofa and pulled her hand. "Sit down. I won't have another fight with you. No, I don't want to scare you."

Elara was beyond speechless. She had turned into a statue. The moment she realized she couldn't connect with the future her, she became panicked and lost her cool.

"Behave and sit here, Sugar," Sorin tapped his lap as he became serious, and instantly, Elara felt a chill run down her spine. No... it wasn't a chill.

When she looked at him, looking past her as if he was stripping her naked with his eyes, her muscles became numb. She meekly sat on his lap, and he immediately hugged her waist. As her face now was higher than him, he raised his face and said, "Good girl. I see you're not as stubborn as your other counterpart."

***

"Something had blocked my connection with the other me. I still don't know what the situation is, but it seems it doesn't really neutralize my power. I can send your memory back to the past before you made the choice as a Sovereign."

Elara continued, "After that, kill me."

Sorin couldn't say anything when he saw the percentage of the deflection attempt raised by one percent. Was that really the only answer? He had to kill Elara to stop her from destroying the world?

"Kill me, then try and tell everything to my Papa. There's a huge possibility that the restriction doesn't apply to you, or maybe it is no longer restricted," she said.

"But doesn't it mean we can change everything, even my death? Then you wouldn't destroy the world," Sorin said.

"I've tried eight quintillion lifetimes, and I failed to save all of you every single time. Even though you know what killed you now, how can you guarantee that you won't die? And even if you don't, how can you guarantee that I will not destroy the world, whatever the reason?" Elara argued.

Sorin grasped her hand. "You won't because I said so."

Elara lost her words. As she helplessly shook her head at his confidence, he slowly approached her. There she was, being cornered once more in the corner of the elevator.

"You don't believe me?" Sorin asked; his whispers tickled her ears.

As her eyes wavered, he heard the deepest voice in her mind. [Please... convince me otherwise, Sorin...]

"I don't believe you," she answered. "I don't—"

"Behave, Sugar," Sorin grasped her jaw.

As they caught each other eye once again, Elara heard Sorin's words that made her fume. Her face immediately turned red, and it was as if sweet, fresh, tomato-colored honey almost dripped from her cheek.

"Don't only send my memory back. But also yours. Let your other counterpart know that you've lost your virginity to me."

***

Elara suddenly felt new information being fed to her brain. Almost as if it happened at the same time, her face began to melt with red. Not only her face but her entire upper half, which was visible and wasn't covered by her clothes...

Blushed.

The tip of her shoulders, her upper chest, the back of her neck, her cheek, even her nose and forehead. She almost burst out crying in embarrassment.

Sorin sighed. He felt he couldn't admire it completely because, of course, her blossoming red blush would appear everywhere else, too, right? He had seen it in the elevator, but that place was too inconvenient.

"I wonder if you also sent your broken hymen back in time like you did the broken CCTV. Or did you restore it like the broken remote?"

"Y-y-you...!"

Sorin scooped her up from his lap. As Elara hugged his shoulders, he carried her to the second floor of his apartment. There was his bed, full of his old scent and cold in temperature; since it hadn't been used for three days, he disappeared.

They left the TV on, knowing that it would've been better to muffle the sound of what they were going to do. As he laid her in bed, overlooking the entire apartment, he felt a deep nostalgic feeling assaulting him. He really came back.

"Let's speak to your Papa tomorrow and let him know about everything. If you dare put words into my mouth again and ask them to pray for me to forget, or if you dare tell them that you must die..." Sorin sharply pinned her down to his bed.

"F-fine!" Elara screamed. "Just..."

Her watery eyes captivated his heart. But before he could resist opening her legs for him, he wanted to hear what she wanted to say. She blinked at him, pitifully shedding one tear before pretending to rub her face to hide it.

"Promise me you won't die. Or I'll really destroy this world."

Sorin snorted. "You fucking unfair woman."

***

[Elara's Choice!]

Quest Rank: [SSS+]

[Last Boss Fight!]

[Don't die, or Elara the 7th Sovereign will destroy the world!]

[Reverse! Fate deflection attempt, 52%]

***

In the depths of the oriental chamber, reality and illusion melded into a disconcerting harmony. It sprawled endlessly, an expanse that defied the boundaries of reason. The chamber, a paradoxical realm, seemed to stretch into eternity, akin to the ever-deepening recesses of one's subconscious.

Veiled in an oppressive gloom, the chamber's dimensions played tricks on the mind, a nightmarish inception where space was fluid and boundless. Shadows, unfurling like ancient specters, lurked in the recesses, their presence palpable yet elusive.

The air was thick with an indefinable foreboding, a silent dread that hung like a shroud. Whispering echoes reverberated through the chamber's inky depths, where a man sat, trying to bury and drown himself in the complete silence of his meditation.

"I am playing along..."

He whispered.

He took a long breath.

"I am playing along..."

He suppressed his cold growl of voice.

He sighed long and angrily.

"I am... playing... along..."

Mama turned toward the man she leaned into. Her lips were pursed, holding a smile. She whispered as she tickled her husband's chin with the tip of her index finger. "Aren't you glad the heavens had sent us a match for our Elara?"