Time Divergence II

I didn't think a massage was that bad of a suggestion. Wasn't this what she wanted?

Kurumi pouted and sighed in apparent disappointment.

"I guess this is not bad too. If so, shouldn't we change the scenery to something more... romantic?~"

I pressed my fingers into her flesh with apprehension, hearing her moans upon the slightest contact of our skin.

'Sorry, but I'm a married man with too many pets.'

"You mean relaxing?"

"No, I said romantic," she turned around, and her voice was absolute.

We were in an eerie and foggy mansion reeking of blood where a massacre had taken place. And somehow, I was supposed to take her to a romantic scenery?

I thought it was hopeless, and then recalled I had a certain ability that could help with that. Only, I very rarely used this ability, but I had found myself using it lately to appease some of the slaves who came with high mental trauma.

"Very well..."

I learned to make illusions based on other people's feelings instead of mine.

Rather than my own idea of a romantic environment, I took Tokisaki Kurumi's memories and desires as a modus; the scenery changed to one of a beautiful cliff in a city that looked surrounded by mountains. The sun was bright and falling down into dusk, and the sky clear with few clouds.

Beautiful.

We were both astonished as even the smell changed from the putrid one of her bloodstained dress to one of the green natural leaves — fresh and delightful.

"T-This is...?" she stuttered.

"Is this what you think is romantic?" I asked, confused. I thought, given her character, we would go to a place a bit more... eerie.

Turns out she's still just a girl. A scary girl.

"This place holds plentiful meanings to me. It is the city where I live — Tenguu City. And this place in particular has a lot of memories... more than romantic, I would say it is very nostalgic."

Her tone remained the same, but her mood switched a hundred and eighty degrees from what I knew.

"Uhm~" Kurumi released a slight moan when I continued my massage. She looked at me one time with that exotic clock eye of hers before she turned back around to enjoy the scenery.

"Do you know, Ray-san... in my world, there was a boy I liked... no, there is a boy I like."

"Uh-huh..." I tilted my brows. It certainly didn't look like her feelings for that boy were very deep, if we go by her trying to seduce me.

She looked at me with a sidelong glance to peek at any reaction, but there was none. I had no feelings for her whatsoever, and there hardly ever would be. She seemed disappointed at that though.

"Due to my powers, I have seen this boy die so many times that my feelings for him have mostly diluted. I have also died a lot of times trying to save him... whether it be because he is weak or because I am weak... that love seems to be something impossible to grasp, so I have already given up."

As she spoke, she sounded melancholic, and there was a bit of self-mockery — but I also sensed that she didn't care.

She no longer cared she was not strong enough to save that boy. I was a bit confused by her story, but figured due to her control of the time laws, her life must be very complicated.

[She must have travelled thousands of timelines... her consciousness can barely keep up with the divergence. Through the extensive use of time laws, an individual can become an empty husk bereft of emotions. It is a sad fate.]

Horus added a piece.

'Her mind may be that of a teenager, but she must have lived thousands of years,' Elysir mumbled in my mind. 'Maybe that's the reason why she is so... psychotic.'

'You have also lived that long and you're not like that, Ely.'

'...are you sure?'

'...'

I recalled my last meeting with the real Elysir and fell silent. Maybe I was wrong.

...

"This cliff was an important spot for us. That's why I find it now more as a nostalgic memory rather than the romantic one it used to be," she continued amidst her moans.

"And where is this boy now?"

"He should be alive. We don't know each other yet... more accurately, he doesn't know that version of me. Due to time and spatial distortions, I am the only 'me' who retains all the memories. The other 'me' are younger versions of 'me' who have yet to experience a lot of my life."

"..."

Once more, I was a bit confused. Elysir explained to me that, given her powers, a different version of her is created every second of her life — every time she leaps in time, every time she 'dies'.

She can access clones which aren't exactly clones. Rather, they are different versions of her from different timelines. To me, it sounded complicated but also exotic. I wanted to know more about her... but she threw me a ball I wasn't expecting.

"I perish soon."

"Ah?" I stopped my massage abruptly.

She looked at me and released a small giggle. The realization hit me... I actually reacted.

"Are you worried about me?~"

"Don't joke with those things." I frowned.

"I am not lying."

She turned around and looked me straight in the eye.

"I will perish soon, scattered in the pool of time. To be more accurate, this version of me will be 'deleted' and replaced by a younger version of me, as this version of me is unable to keep up with so many memories. It is not the first time it has happened, Ray-san."

[So that is how she copes...]

'Poor thing,' I heard my mom weeping.

'Mom...'

'But she's so pitiful, Ray-chan!' My mom sobbed at Kurumi's story.

'Mom, this is a killing machine—'

'So what!? She's still a poor little girl!'

I resisted the urge to sigh. My mom can sometimes be very human. I thought she was pitiful, but I didn't feel bad for her in the slightest.

"I am the me who is the most crooked and twisted... haven't you noticed?"

Kurumi seemingly boasted, prompting me to flick her forehead, much to her shock.

"Hmn..."

Kuroka slaughtered her master and was a renowned criminal in the underworld. Solution was a slime monster who not only devoured thousands, but even betrayed her faction for me. Grayfia (who I still don't know why is categorized as one of my pets) is actively committing adultery and cheating on her husband with me... though she's a devil and she probably doesn't care, and neither does he.

'Cough! He would probably start caring a bit more if he knew his beloved wife and mother of his child is not only my lover but also my pet,* I thought.

Hell, Haku was a child molester, for god's sake... she was the worst Yōkai to ever exist, and her crimes could even make me shiver.

And I still love them.

Only Yasaka doesn't have such a background, but then again, I would gladly have her as my wife. It is she who wants to be my pet... what can I do?

"Kurumi, my pets are all monsters. Some with twisted stories, some with happy stories... but all of them have at one point in their lives committed actions morally questionable. Nevertheless, I still love them."

"How can you...? How can you accept them for who they are? Is it because you're a god?"

She seemed to struggle with the realization that despite the fact that I knew her true nature, not only was I not scared of her, I didn't judge her either.

It left me thinking for a bit about how much I had changed ever since I became a God.

"God? No... I haven't been a god that long. They are my pets. I love them... as long as they behave when they're with me, I don't care what they do."

I shrugged my shoulders. I can't be looking at them at all times... they know what my moral compass is, and they won't do anything to trespass it; that's all I care about.

She gasped.

"Sometimes, to do what is right, you have to do something morally questionable, Kurumi... wouldn't you agree?"