This planet had no na.
Gustav never bothered to give it one. It was a silent sphere of silver-blue and black soil and still, empty plains that stretched farther than any human eye could see.
Above it was a sky that never change. It was a starless dusk of neither day nor night, hung like an eternal curtain. Nothing lived here. Nothing grew here.
It was the only place in the universe stable enough to survive his uncontrolled presence because he created it for that very purpose.
The ground did not crack beneath his feet. The air did not tear apart under his pressure. No gravitational storms waged when he breathed.
Earth would never be able to withstand even ten minutes of him being there anymore unless he found a way to reduce his strength.
And so he stayed here.
For centuries.
Alone.
A man in a red long coat sat on a piece of pale rock shaped like a bench with elbows resting against his knees and head lowered. His dirty-blonde hair, longer than it once was, fell like a shadowed curtain against his cold expression. His face was expressionless—always expressionless—but his eyes…
His eyes carried storms galaxies could not hold.
In his right hand, a holographic screen shimred, replaying the sa old footage over and over. A woman. A smile that he rembered more vividly than light itself. Hands stroking her round belly while she spoke to him from a ti that no longer existed.
Angy.
His Angy.
His child.
Gone.
He had lost worlds, been betrayed by fate itself... died more tis than mortals could comprehend.
But none of those pains compared to the scar carved the day he lost them.
The footage looped again with Angy rubbing her belly, telling the unborn child about their father. Gustav's chest tightened like soone was twisting it. He had no heartbeat anymore, but the phantom ache was endless.
He didn't speak.
Words had stopped belonging to him years ago.
This was his eternity... watching a recording of a life he could never return to.
For soone who saved the universe, he was cursed as a living deity, immortality had beco nothing but a prison of mory.
A tear slid down his cheek. It didn't fall as water... it evaporated into glowing dust, a power so dense the ground itself trembled.
Even his grief could destroy planets.
He sniffed and wiped the corner of his eye.
More dust.
Then the air transford.
A circular ripple of lavender gold energy appeared behind him without warning.
It was a portal.
And from it ca the only person he allowed to bypass his awareness.
He didn't look up.
A pair of boots clicked gently against the ground.
"Well," a familiar female voice sighed, "you still look like a brooding statue."
Gustav lifted his gaze faintly.
Miss Aie stepped out of the portal, wearing dark-crimson robes and her hair tied up in an elegant, no-nonsense bun. She still carried herself with that impossible combination of beauty, arrogance, and calm lethal energy that once made her the most powerful woman on Earth.
Her presence alone would make worlds tremble, but compared to him… she felt almost human.
"You're here again," Gustav murmured softly as his eyes returned to the hologram. "Shouldn't you be running your planet?"
Miss Aie rolled her eyes and walked over, lowering herself to sit beside him on the rock.
"My planet will survive without for a few days. They know how to respect their goddess. Besides—" She nudged his shoulder lightly. "—I can't bear to leave my favorite student sitting on a dead rock forever."
Gustav didn't react at first. Then he exhaled quietly.
"I'm fine."
"You're a terrible liar," she answered imdiately. "You've always been terrible at lying to ."
He remained silent.
Miss Aie leaned forward slightly, watching the hologram play again... Angy laughing softly, rubbing her belly, speaking gently to the unborn child.
Miss Aie's expression softened, losing its usual sharpness.
"You've been watching this every day for over three centuries, Gustav."
"It's the last thing she left for ," Gustav whispered. "The last mont I can still… feel them."
Miss Aie looked at him with deep, aching sympathy.
There were few beings in existence who could understand loss on this scale. Gustav had brought her back from death long ago... he could bend the laws of ti, space, and existence... but he could not bring back Angy or the child. The conditions were impossible. The circumstances irreversible. Even for him.
"How long do you plan to keep punishing yourself like this?" Miss Aie asked gently.
"I'm not punishing myself. I'm rembering."
"Sa thing," she muttered.
She waited a mont.
Then she breathed out slowly as her voice lowered.
"Do you really intend to never show your face to your friends again?"
Gustav let the hologram fade.
"They're happier without . Besides, if I stay on Earth too long…"
"It's risky. Yes, I know." Miss Aie crossed her arms. "But your friends? They're mixedbloods. They don't age like normal humans. And they aren't afraid of you, Gustav. They miss you."
He stared at the ground.
"Maybe one day."
Miss Aie frowned.
"One day? Do you think they'll live forever? Not everyone is immortal like you or I. They will die soday—and you'll regret not going to see them before that happens."
"They still have centuries ahead," Gustav replied. "I can wait."
"And what if waiting becos another century? And another after that? And another?" she pressed. "You are hiding, Gustav. From your grief. From yourself. From everything."
Heavy and unmoving silence fell again.
Miss Aie studied his empty eyes and broken strength in every breath in took, for a long mont.
Finally, she softened.
"Fine. I'll stop pushing you." She sighed. "But don't tell you're okay. Don't lie to ."
He didn't respond.
After a mont, Gustav's voice ca out quieter.
"Should you even be here…? You really do have responsibilities."
Miss Aie snorted.
"They can wait. I only have one Gustav." She reached over, placed a hand on the back of his head, and pulled it toward her shoulder abruptly. "How could I bear to leave you alone like this?"
Gustav froze slightly.
She was still as rough as ever. The gesture reminded him painfully of the early days... when he was still weak, still learning under her rciless training.
He let his head rest against her.
For a long mont, they both simply breathed.
The silence wasn't empty this ti.
It was warm and comforting.
Old mories drifted between them—training sessions, scoldings, her lectures, his defiance, her grudging pride. She had watched him beco a monster, a savior, a god. She had died for him. He had resurrected her. Their connection was beyond normal definitions.
"I miss her," Gustav whispered.
Miss Aie's expression wavered.
"I know," she said softly. "And you always will. Losing soone like that… it never truly heals."
She touched his hair gently. "…but wounds don't have to stay open forever."
Gustav stayed silent for a long ti.
Then he lifted his head, looking at her directly.
"Thank you," he murmured.
She smiled faintly.
They spoke for long hours after that... about Angy, about what she would've wanted, about how fiercely she had loved him, about the child who never had a chance.
They revisited old mories.
Painful ones.
Warm ones.
Miss Aie had always been harsh, strict and sarcastic but in this mont, she was gentle in a way only she could be.
And Gustav…
for the first ti in centuries…
allowed himself to feel the weight of everything he had locked away.
Eventually, the conversation grew softer. Their words slowed. Their eyes held each other longer than before.
Then Miss Aie inhaled deeply, and her voice ca out quieter.
"Gustav… close your eyes."
He blinked.
She moved closer.
"I want to make you feel better," she whispered.
Before he could reply, she gently pushed him backward.
The red coat spread beneath him as he lay back on the pale rock surface.
Miss Aie straddled him with her knees on either side of his waist and her eyes locked on his with an expression he had never seen from her before.
There was no mockery.
No taunting.
No smugness.
Only raw, aching affection.
Pain.
Tenderness.
Longing.
A centuries-old bond twisted by grief.
Gustav's breath hitched faintly. He knew instantly... this wasn't one of her usual teases.
She reached down slowly, cupping his face in both hands. Her thumbs brushed against his cheeks. Her forehead lowered until it touched his.
"Don't run from this," she whispered.
He didn't...
A mont passed and their lips t.
A warmth spread through the cold cavern of his chest...
Her robe loosened around her as she leaned over him. Her breath mingled with his as her hands trembled slightly despite her usual composure.
The dim lavender sky above them seed to flicker as low moans and grunts soon rang out in low waves across the surroundings.
●●●
anwhile...
In far reaches of space... in another universe...
An infant floated with dark scalding marks across its skin. Its eyes were fully closed but it seed to be breathing which should be impossible in the depths of space.
It floated for ages...
And ages...
And ages...
Remaining the sa way as if ti had refused to flow for it.
And then suddenly, a strange humanoid entity with a long white beard and a staff approached it with a look of utter disbelief and confusion.
'A baby? How?' His thoughts whirred.
He proceeded to grab the infant and after a long pause, flew off into the distance.
THE END.
Author's Note:
Thanks to everyone who made it this far.
Thank you all for the support since day one. I appreciate each and everyone of you. We started this journey five years ago and through out this ti, I have learned a lot and improved a lot. Let not bore you all with the details. The Bloodline System cos to an end here and you all are the reason it ever made it this far. There might be a prequel or a sequel, who knows... still undecided.
However, I will release a few side chapters after this. Enjoy :)
Reviews
All reviews (0)