379. BLEU’S IDENTITY

“Finally..” I plopped down on the couch and gazed up towards a white infinite space.
“So you’re Bleu? What happened to the other Bleu?” I heard Liliath ask.

“I’ve been assimilated, no worries, I still remember you Liliath.”
“Is that so? Then what games did I like to play? Oh, nevermind you can read minds..”
“Did something happen to Bleu too?” Nine came and sat beside me. He placed the warm cup of tea on the coffee table in front of us.

“The same thing that happened to Liliath happened to Bleu. Bleu has both memories of this world, and the other world I went to.”

“She still looks the same.”
“Probably because she is.”
“That’s rude Nine.. were you expecting me to become more flamboyant?”

Nine nodded his head.

“Oh right.”
I turned to look over the couch behind. Prune was sitting close to the makeshift elixir pond in this realm of white and quartz pillars.

“Prune, how did it go?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“Noel means you and Shea,” Bleu followed up.

“It’s difficult.”
“I understand that,” Bleu made her way over to Prune. She gave me a wink before giving Prune some counseling.

“I suppose we’ll wait until everyone settles down before we get to the main topic at hand,” Nine said.

“It seems that Laura isn’t here today.”
“Seems so.”

“Rin, do you want some tea?”
“Sure.”
Liliath brought tea packets into existence and using the glass cups present in the domain, began brewing Rin and herself instant tea.

“Thank you,” Rin received it carefully.

“You’re welcome.”

Then took a sip.

Loosening a sigh, she looked at me.

“It all feels too unreal,” Liliath said.
I nodded.

Nine shrugged.

“Same here,” said Rin.

“Noel, there’s something that’s been bugging the Liliath of your world, for a good while. The thought hit me, seeing how we’ve completed my evolution quest.”
I brought up the quest board and the system return function.

===

Liliath’s Evolution Quest:

Resolve the war between the Empire and Demon Lord.

===

“Am I really just a character? A fictional character that isn’t supposed to exist?” Liliath gave me a hard look.

My eyes pandered away for a moment. 

The reality is..

“If you’re a character, then I’m a character too.”
“What?” Nine looked at me.
“I’m pretty sure everyone of us is a character. That includes you Nine.”
“I’m from the real world just like you though?”
I shook my head.

“I’m pretty sure that’s also a fake world.”
Nine blinked a few times.

“What does that imply?” Rin asked.

“I don’t know.. that there’s some higher creator to our exist..”
A black portal opened up in the middle of our conversation.

“Noel.”
Guy with black unkempt hair. Parts of it had greyed. 

Black glasses, black bags under his eyes..

And the air around him.

Wait.. this guy..

“Long time no see. I’m sorry, I’ll get to the point, Noel, I’ve analyzed your data– that person you met. Where did he go?”

It's the first time I’m seeing Unknown like this. 

“I don’t know?”
He grabbed both of my shoulders.

“Use your mind and think. There must be something there, a clue, hint, something. What did he tell you?”
He’s desperate.

“I don’t.. know.. all I know..”
Shit, it’s been a decade, combining the time I spent in the void since I last saw that person in the void..

Though I may not remember much of the encounter.

What I know is that Unknown is strikingly similar to that person.

“The longer you wait, the more data is being deleted..”
“Unknown, calm down, forgetting isn’t the same as deletion, ” Bleu pulled him away.

“Bleu..”

“Look at me.”
The two stared at each other for a while..

Come to realize, who were these two people here? Initially it was just Bleu. Then Unknown appeared. They must have some relation to each other, don’t they?

“Go wash your face and shave, how long have you been working?”
To Bleu’s smile, a frown surfaced on Unkwon’s face.

“Seriously,” Unknown sighed. “Fine.. just this once.. ”

“Don’t just do it this once. Do it every day.”

Then Unknown went silent. They stared at each other, a message was exchanged through telepathy.
“Will do,” Bleu nodded with a serious expression.
Unknown stepped in between the portal, and he turned back to me.

“Noel. Take care of the me in your future.”

He stepped over.. and disappeared.

“What in the..”
“.. fuck.” Liliath completed my sentence.

“Wow,” Nine looked at Liliath like he was seeing an alien anomaly, Rin too.. what’s so weird about Liliath cursing?

Bleu heaved a sigh, dropping her shoulders.

“Bleu?”

“No.. it’s just.. been a while,” she raised her head to look to the sky.

“I’m not sure if we’re in the position to ask, but, could you explain the situation to us?” Liliath asked.

Bleu nodded.

Prune finally took a seat.

“Depending on whose thoughts I’m reading, I’m sure you would think that this is some extension to the current story. You know, the sequel since nothing of this sort was revealed when we first met..” Bleu scratched her cheeks, “And I will admit, you might be correct. This all might be some fake data being implanted into our minds, making our situation seem real and desperate.”

Bleu brought a chair into existence and sat on it. Her blue hair turned black, and her loose garment of white clothes turned into a school uniform..

“Don’t I look familiar?”
…

You can’t be serious..

“Anyhow. Noel, I want to confirm with you a few things about the person you met in the void years ago. What features did he have?”

“To be honest.. he’s similar to a younger Unknown, except maybe that his hair is all grey?”

I don’t know why I remembered this.

“So..” Bleu placed a finger on her chin.

Damn. I didn’t think she’d grow up to be this gorgeous.

“Why thank you, but I think you should wait and see how Liliath and Rin will look in their 20s.”

Well..

“Okay, how about his mood? Tone of voice? What did he say?”
“Mysterious, slightly surprised when he met Noel, I think frustrated by something.”
Liliath? How?
“I have some of your memories, remember?”

“Oh right..”
“Bleu, who is he? What kind of role does he play in all this?” Nine asked.

“It’s not something I can tell you. It’ll eat away at you if you knew the whole story, I’m sorry.”

Nine just nodded.

That guy..

“That he’s going to be my brother-in-law..”
“Huh? Brother-in-law?” Prune looked at me weird.

“That’s the future, Unknown already told you didn’t he?”
Tell me what? That he’s going to be my brother-in-law? Seriously?

“I think I’ve extracted most of what I could from your memories, there’s not much to work with.”

This is just weird.. like seriously weird..

“It is, as you mentioned before, you reap what you sow? We’re atoning for our sins.” Bleu twirled her black hair.

Atoning for your sins.. what did you do?

“We’ll meet you in the future too, wouldn’t we?” Liliath asked.

“See you then,” Bleu pointed at us with a grin.

A familiar grin..

Bleu said I was her Creator.

But..

– So there's a creator beyond me?

– You’ll meet her soon.

“Noel. It’s not as simple as that. Think of it as a case of a bad chemical reaction between our TALENTs.”
…

“Okay, okay. All the seriousness aside, let’s talk about what you want to know– which is returning home,” Bleu clapped her hands twice. Her hair returned to the normal blue we know.

“Right..” Prune voiced.

Still. I can’t shake off the feeling.

After all, Bleu is.. 

380. 

Once we decide to go back, there’s no returning.
So anything we need to get done in this world should be completed before we leave. 

“I’ll deal with that, don’t worry,” Unknown wiped his glasses clean his new set of clothes.
Man, he’s good looking when he really takes care of his looks.
“How exactly are you going to bring Rin over? She’s from this world isn’t she?”
“There are many methods. But I need first to establish a connection between both worlds. Rin would need to wait some time before a link can be created.”
“If you want, I could always adjust the time scale. That way, it’ll feel like no time has passed at all before Rin gets a chance to move over.” Bleu explained.

“What do you think Rin?”
“I don’t know.. I’ll leave it up to you Noel. I don’t understand what anyone is saying.. hehe..” Rin looked pretty worn out, mentally.

All the talk about different stories, realms and worlds burned her processor.

“It’s best we go for that option. Many thing might happen if Rin continued to live in the world, who knows, she might even forget about us and move on.”
“I.. won’t..” Rin squeaked.

“I almost did,” I admitted.

My honest words were met with silence.

“But things worked out alright in the end, didn’t it?” Liliath said.

“You’re right.”
“Then that’s what we’ll hope for. I’m sure the heart knows the way.”
“So the plan is decided, I’ll get to work. Bleu, I’ll be counting on you.”
“Roger that,” she saluted.

“One more thing. Noel, thank you. I’ve found the coordinates.”

Unknown got up and disappeared behind his portal.

I felt a slight buzz on my skin. Everyone was turning slightly translucent.

Welp, it’s about the limit of this trip, we’ll be waking up now.
“See you tomorrow Bleu.”
“See you.”
Prune and Nine first left, followed by Rin. They all dispersed into light.

Liliath and I stayed.

“Hey..” 

Bleu looked at our fading selves with a strained smile.

“.. do things really turn out alright?”

She asked.
I sighed.

I got up and walked over to her.

I placed my hand over her hair.

“It’ll be alright.”

It’ll be alright, Novelle.

===

We spent the next 2 months settling things. Stuff like acting as Toren Kingdom’s ambassador to spread peace, exploring the world, experiencing the exotic foods this world has to offer.

You know, your typical slice of life isekai after the main story.

Along the way we dropped by the Margrave’s place so that Rin could meet with her family.. sorta. It was kind of a bummer to see their haughty attitude but.. I suppose that’s just how it is. Rin didn’t get too worked up about it, so I had no qualms.

We also helped out Siesta and the Regressor with managing the demon territory. Not to mention, now that Javiel has been granted amnesty, he’s under the management too. Serving as Siesta’s right hand man.

The Regressor was furious, saying that it’s repeating all over again. Really? Those two are a good match though, schemers in their own right. 

Also, I’ve replaced Jiwon’s regressing Unique Skill, Pandora’s box, with my widget functions. I’ve also linked it up to Moirae and Laura. Plus, we’ve turned him into an elf.. so he should be able to stay with his two wives for a few hundred years at least. I still don’t get why his ears remain human.

As for Moirae, I dropped in a word for her and she was able to regain her status as the Goddess of Fate.

Not.

She decided to leave her seat for good and stay with Jiwon until his death. Now I’m curious if a man can have a child with a Goddess. It’s possible.. maybe? 

Then we have Miss Margrett’s family. Liliath managed to get citizenship for them, and after much deliberation, they decided to continue their lives in Toren Kingdom. Jennifer will attend Lionheart academy.

As for the heroes, let’s just say they’re enjoying their time here. Their return to their own world is guaranteed. I asked the Gods and Goddesses about it, and they said that they’ll open up the option once they complete their journey around the world.

When the Regressor heard about it, he said that he would stay with Laura. You should’ve seen the elf in tears. It was an emotional moment.

Prune left Shea.. eventually. Their relationship was one hell of a complicated one. 

Just like that, two months went by.

“Mother, father. Thank you,” Liliath bowed.

“Is this what you’ve decided?” Marilyn, Liliath’s mother asked.

“Yes mother.. I’ll be going.”
“Noel-sama,” Akihito, His Majesty called me.

“I’ll take care of her. I swear by my life.”
“I trust you. May you bring happiness to my daughter.”
“Thank you.”
“Take care of Noel too, dear Liliath.”
“Yes..” 

===

“This is it huh..”

“I guess so.”

Unlike last time where we had to die, returning will be more like a light beam shooting down from the sky– from what Bleu said.

“Is everyone ready?”
“Yes,” Nine said.

Prune nodded.

“Take care Rin. We’ll do our best to bring you over, alright?”

“You take care too.. and.. see you.”

Liliath and Rin parted hands.

“Take care everyone.”
““Take care!””
“See you!!”

“May the world bless you with its riches!”
I gave everyone one last glance.

The people we’ve encountered through this wild, ridiculous journey.

Our first meeting with the world’s people, Miss Margrett and Jennifer…

The world’s heroes and main storyline, Jiwon, Aoki, Takata, Sasaki…

The princesses from Toren Kingdom, Siesta and Alytia…

Elves, Teal, Laura. 

Liliath’s family members, Akihito, Marilyn, Valentine, Kana, Linda, Kyoshi, and the princes…

The villains, Javiel, Iona, Locket, Shea…

I hate it. This feeling of not wanting to part.

But it’s inevitable.

It’s not the first time I’ve experienced this pain
So..

“This is goodbye.”
[Return home?]

[YES/NO]

Yes.