As soon as Daneel got this ssage, he stopped going through the extensive list of Champion Paths and looked as if he had just been punched in the gut by soone.
Xuan and Eloise, calling him together to co sowhere.
It was a scene straight out of the list of things he never wanted to see, right after the one where the Church might invade without any preamble and wipe out most of Angaria without letting him do anything to stop them.
Yes, in his list, only this was worse than what he was going to face now, mainly because of that little nugget of guilt that had burrowed into his mind after that kiss from Xuan.
Of course, there were a lot of argunts that could be made: for example, he could say that she had co forward, and that he had had no chance to react and get away.
However, Daneel had always been taught to own up to everything he did, instead of trying to weasel his way out of situations by lying or giving excuses.
It had always been partly this nature of his that had allowed him to face difficulty after difficulty to reach where he was.
If his will had been any less firm, he might have perished long ago even though he was equipped with sothing wondrous like the system.
Daneel knew that it was his inexperience that had led to this, and also that he had probably made the wrong decision when he had seen Eloise crying that day.
Recently, every ti he checked on her and saw that she wasn’t back, he would replay this last interaction they had had in his mind and then ponder on how it could have gone differently.
Yes, she had been evasive. And yes, he might have told himself so sh*t then to not talk to her as he had had that guilt, even then.
But the more he thought about it, the more he felt that he should have hunkered down and tried to find out just what was wrong.
He hated this feeling of regret. And he hated this feeling that he should have done things differently.
For the first ti in a long ti, Daneel felt nervous about sothing.
Even when he had been about to participate in fights that might kill him, he had never felt nervous. Scared, maybe, yes, a bit, but never nervous- and definitely never like this.
He never wanted to feel this again.
So, he took a mont to sort out everything in his head, and decide for himself what he felt for these won.
First, Eloise. Smart, sweet Eloise.
She had boldly made her interest know. But because he hadn’t felt anything ’special’, he had honestly told her that there might never co a ti when he felt about her the way she wanted him to feel.
Was he so sure about that right now?
When Daneel recalled the worry he had felt these past few days whenever he wondered where and how she was, he wasn’t so sure of the answer to that question.
True, because he had made it clear to her that he might never be interested in her, he had no obligation to let her know that he had kissed a different woman.
But that, again, sounded exactly like an excuse that only soone weak would give.
After all this ti, Daneel’s idea of waiting for that ’perfect soone’ who could make him feel like how soone was supposed to feel when they loved sobody had gotten eroded, bit by bit, until he was getting more and more sure that he was committing a major mistake by breaking the hearts of those who wished to be with him now.
That brought him to Xuan. Fierce, gallant Xuan.
Even she had told him clearly that she was interested in him. And he had given her practically the sa answer.
But at that mont, when her lips had approached his...
Just rembering it made his heart beat faster, which made him feel pretty embarrassed.
Well, it was the first action of intimacy in his 2 lives so far, and he would be lying if he said that it didn’t make him want more. It was almost an instinctual feeling, and it could not be denied and ignored.
But had that changed his view regarding her?
No. Definitely not.
Daneel had never been one who would feel confused regarding their own feelings.
He was clear on this.
What he felt for both won was equal: he really liked them both, for different reasons, and he knew for sure that he would love spending ti with both of them.
They were each incredible people with distinct personalities, wants and needs, and it was the truth that he also admired them for the one characteristic that they shared: their courage to never give up, and accomplish what they wished no matter what kind of difficulties ca their way.
Any man would feel lucky to catch their interest.
And at this mont, Daneel knew that he was probably in jeopardy of losing both of their affections.
He needed to make a decision, right now, regarding what he should do about this whole situation.
But at this point, Daneel didn’t even know what his options were.
He wondered whether he could ask anyone for guidance. His parents, maybe? Or Elanev?
No, both didn’t seem very appealing.
Suddenly, he recalled one other person who might have gone through soone similar, and whose brain he could literally pick if he wished.
The Emperor.
"System, in the new module, take to the mory where the Emperor last spoke with the one he loved. And give the information regarding this person."
[Affirmative. Sorting through mories. Last mory chosen.]
As Daneel closed his eyes in preparation of being whisked away and placed in the mory, he wondered what he might experience.
Although he knew for sure that the Emperor hadn’t made his nickna co true, he didn’t know any other details.
A few monts later, he opened his eyes, but he was puzzled when he saw nothing but darkness around him.
Indeed, it was pitch-black, so much so that when Daneel stretched out his hands in front of him, he saw nothing.
It was also really, really quiet. The sound of his own heartbeat was the loudest thing, and it was actually pretty jarring.
The complete isolation from light and sound had more of an effect than Daneel could ever have imagined. In this kind of environnt, one’s thoughts would also be magnified, and the mind would be allowed to wander more, instead of being distracted every mont by things that might affect it in the outside world.
Only...it was also pretty creepy. Soon, Daneel began imagining phantom sounds all around him, which made him stand up and take a defensive stance even though this was just a mory where nothing could hurt him.
It was only after a knock sounded on a door sowhere near him did Daneel hear soone closeby get up and walk forward.
A mont later, after he heard the sound of a door opening, light spilled inside and let him look around and take a asure of the room he was in.
It was a stark stone room, with no furnishings whatsoever.
All kinds of formations were etched on the walls, though, and this was the only embellishnt to be seen anywhere.
Apart from this, the only other thing was a small mat in the center, which was much larger than any in Angaria.
Oh, yes, he was in the mory of a ti where everyone was giant.
"System, what is this?"
[Isolation Chamber. The Emperor always trained in this Chamber, as it allowed him to focus on what he wished without any distractions.]
No matter how much Daneel thought about it, he could never imagine himself doing the sa.
It was practically like locking yourself in an isolation cell in prison to train, and he was sure that the amount of effort that would go into using that to train was definitely considerable.
Loneliness was a dangerous thing, and it had almost driven him mad the last ti he isolated himself. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Daneel had no intention of repeating that whatsoever.
The Emperor, who was standing in front of the door, also needed a mont for his eyes to adjust.
After they did, Daneel heard him say, "Nayana? What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to check on the deploynts of survival trinket kits to the soldiers of the 6th Battalion?"
Daneel heard a sweet voice answer.
"I’m done with that. Co with , Fen. I need to talk to you about sothing."
The Emperor seed surprised as he heard this, but he nodded and walked out.
Daneel followed, and as he exited that room, he finally caught a glimpse of the woman the Emperor had just spoken to.
Her outfit was one that would make any typical teen on Earth faint from spurting out too much blood from their nose.
In fact, it even made Daneel blush, as he could never have imagined that he would see sothing like this in real life.
She had long, flowing hair that was a dashing crimson, and she was wearing a two-piece dress with her almost completely bare.
They seed to be walking through the Emperor’s bedroom, and although it didn’t have any furnishings, too, there was a wall-length mirror that they passed in which Daneel caught a glimpse of her image.
Features that would captivate any man or woman, with especially luscious lips that stood out.
An angular, attractive neck that was adorned by a simple necklace with a single, red gem.
Plunging cleavage, which was the main source of Daneel’s blush, that exposed most of her ample bosom with her top only covering the barest amount. They moved as she walked, and it was almost like they would fall out at any mont.
Her mid-riff was completely exposed with even the sides of her hips completely visible. The bottom part of her dress frad them, with her voluptuous assets almost completely visible, along with her strongly built thighs and long, perfectly developed legs.
In other words, very, very little was left up to imagination, and it made Daneel wonder why she was sporting such an outfit.
After all, he had seen these kinds of dresses only in the artwork done for entertainnt of a specific kind back on Earth, and he knew that they were scorned at due to their impracticality and the way they falsely influenced the imagination of those they were targeted for.
Yet, here, sohow, all that did not seem to stand.
It was clear that the objective of this dress was to arouse any who laid their eyes on her, and it was very, very effective.
Daneel barely managed to get his heartbeat back to normal after a few monts. The Emperor seed unperturbed, and when they reached a large balcony which had a breathtaking view, Daneel finally had sothing else to focus on.
It was the Empire, and it seed ready for war- which was indicated by the legions of troops marching out on all the streets visible.
Yet, before Daneel could notice anything else, a sound made him turn to the duo who both stood at least 9 feet tall.
’Clink!’
The woman’s top had been made of a tallic material with very little cloth. Thus, when it fell to the ground, it made this sound, and Daneel thankfully saw it first, which allowed him to turn around and not be greeted by the sight that was now being witnessed by the Emperor.
Daneel was crimson once again, and he wondered whether he should end this.
However, he stopped when he heard the Emperor sputter, "N-Nayana? What are you-"
The woman interrupted her.
"Fen, what is my Champion and Hero Path?"
The Emperor had to take a mont to answer.
"I-It’s that of ’Desire’. You made it yourself. You captivate your opponents, and make them yearn for you, which allows you to take a part of their power for yourself. Wh-why are-"
"Fen, for once, shut up. I lied. To you, to everyone. My Path...is not that of ’Desire’. You’ve always known that simple desire would never be as effective as the one I have. But, as a dunce, you thought it was my secret. Well, if you had asked, I would have told you without hesitation. My Path is that of ’Unattainable Desire’. That...is because I was dumb enough to fall in love with you. I thought I could change you slowly, until soday...well, all that does not matter now. Tomorrow, we march to our deaths. So, today, just shut the f*ck up."
This impassionate speech was followed by soone running forward, and then the sound of lips eting could be heard.
As Daneel’s blush deepened even further when he heard the sound of clothes being torn apart, he wondered what the heck he had walked into.
...
anwhile, in a luxurious house that was teleporting at every second to different places, making it impossible for anyone to pinpoint its location.
Two n were sitting in front of a table and sipping two glasses from which steam could be seen, and both of them had very contented expressions on their faces.
However, that changed when one of them stood up as if he had been suddenly electrocuted.
His eyes rolled back to show their whites, and the cup in his hands spilled what it contained onto the ground.
The mont before it hit the ground, the other man siphoned it into his cup, before smiling and taking large gulps.
A few monts later, the first man fell back to his seat, and glared at the other before saying, "New orders. I’ve just sent the missive that one man has succeeded in bringing three forces under him. We are ordered to test him, and see if there is any reason that we need to be wary of him. It is wise to be careful about anyone who is loved by the people as much as he. Do you have anything in mind?"
After thinking for a bit, the other man answered.
"Oh, yes, sir. A foe who went into a coma because of an injury. If he wakes up, I can guarantee that I know who his target will be..."
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