"Is this also one of your plans?" Antonius suddenly asked
Erika did not answer. And Antonius knows not to push. For a moment there is silence again.
And then Antonius spoke again.
"Are you going to build the Temple by yourself?"
Erika sighed. Then she answers
"Some things need to be done by myself"
"Why?"
"Sacrifice. Efforts. Labor. Sincerity. It is sacred to the gods"
Hearing this Antonius face become tense
"Are you sure that you want to go through with this?" he paused for a second before continuing saying
"There is no need to take this kind of risk. I know that I don't know what you see and what plans you are making. Sometimes, I even wonder whether what I am about to say is already seen by you"
"But this is dangerous"
Erika did not say anything to this
Erika had explained this to Antonius before. What she is trying to do is very dangerous. And why is it dangerous?
Because the temple is not just a temple. Every Seers, and Oracle, every clairvoyance in the Omniverse is connected by some force.
Some clairvoyance could feel it and some could not. Of course, clairvoyance that Erika is talking about is the kind of clairvoyance that is spur by magic.
There is some clairvoyance that depends on some kind of manipulation of space time and have nothing to do with magic
What Erika wanted to do is to contact Apollo. She wanted to negotiate with Olympus. She had explained this before to Antonius.
When Antonius asked her what she wanted to negotiate about, that is where she shuts down the conversation.
For a moment, there is silence between the two of them and Antonius sighed. He looks at her like he had understood something
"Did you see this? This conversation playing out like this?" Erik smiles bitterly and nodded
Hearing this Antonius could not help but sigh again.
"Does what I say have meaning at all?" he asks
Erika looks at Antonius with a gentle gaze and then she uses her finger to caress his cheeks. There is a gentle smile on her face and she spoke
"It does. It does have meaning. Even if I saw it, that is just a possibility of the future. The moment you said it, the possibility become real. And things need to move for things to happen. And so, even if I saw it, even if I knew it, everything you do and say does have meaning. It means something to you because you wanted to say it. And it means something to me because you say it to me"
She looks at him and she could not help but smile. However, there is a certain kind of sadness to that smile.
"I could not help you" Antonius said before adding "And I hated that. I could fight your enemies for you, I could protect you from monsters but this…. this battle of yours I don't know how to help you" Erika could only smile bitterly at this
"Powerlessness. That is what I feel" Antonius said
"This feeling like I could not help you at all"
There was silence between them. Erika leans closer to him suddenly and then kissed him on his cheek
"Just by being here, being beside me is enough. My mind is always jumbled. And my eyes sees so many things that brings me sadness. It took all of my will not to go crazy. And you, always beside me….is like an anchor that keep me tied on this world. You"
and she kisses him again "are useful. And you help me. You keep me sane. You…anchor me. You save me. And I love you for that"
She reached out, gently placing her hand on his, her touch warm and reassuring. Antonius expression softened, his eyes reflecting a mixture of relief and tenderness.
Erika leaned closer to him, their foreheads gently touching. Her lips brushed against his, a tender gesture filled with affection and gratitude
He leaned in, his lips meeting hers in a gentle kiss.
As they pulled away, they look at each other and Erika smile. And he also could not help but smile.
"Moments like this….it is moment like this that makes me want to keep being sane"
Antonius did not know what to say to that. For some reason, he felt that someday, she would break his heart.
He did not have the gift of foresight like Erika. But he could tell from the way Erika talks about the future….the future is bleak, dark and terrifying
And he knows what she wanted.
"A happy ending"
'Huh?"
"I hope you get that happy ending"
And Erika immediately knows what Antonius is talking about
"I….hope that too" Antonius get up. And he sighed. He sighed because of the uncertain future.
He sighed because of her. And he sighed because of him. The only thing he could do for her….is just to be beside her.
But sometimes…sometimes he wished that he could bear some of the burden she had.
He wanted to sigh but then he remembered someone telling him that a sigh turns away good fortune.
So, he did not
Erika look at another direction, her gaze swept across the vast expanse before her, taking in the ethereal beauty of the rolling clouds, the cold wind caressing her face, and the haunting cries of mythical creatures that filled the air.
It was a scene straight out of a fantastical tale, one that had become a stark reality in their world.
A decade ago, such sights would have been confined to the realm of imagination, existing solely within the pages of fantasy books or the silver screen.
But now, the boundaries between reality and fantasy had blurred, melding together in a world that was both wondrous and grim.
"Just be careful" Antonius reminded
Erika nodded.
Antonius got up and he was about to walk away but then he suddenly stops
"Is there any danger ahead?"
Erika shook her head.
"What are you waiting for then?"
"An old acquaintance"
"It's not dangerous?"
"It's not" then she added
"And it would be easier if you are not here at that time. What this old acquaintance is about to say to me is something very personal" Antonius nodded.
He has been accustomed to the weird request that Erika always had
And so, he got up and left and Erika watched the back of her man and her gaze was complicated.
As Antonius walked away, a hushed stillness settled over the entire mountain, permeating the air and freezing everything in place.
Ssss!
She look around. And it seems that she is the only living beings that seems to be able to move
Erika eyes narrowed.
The scene was frozen in time, as if the world itself held its breath.
Above, birds remained suspended mid-flight, their wings outstretched in graceful arcs against the backdrop of a vast sky.
Each feather was frozen in perfect detail.
Rays of sunlight, halted in their journey, bathed the landscape in a golden glow, casting long shadows that remained motionless.
Raindrops hung in the air, glistening like suspended diamonds, frozen in their descent.
Each droplet seemed to defy gravity, poised delicately on the edge of leaves and branches.
The air was pregnant with the anticipation of their release, frozen in suspended animation.
Leaves, on the verge of falling, were caught in mid-fall, their descent arrested.
Some remained halfway between tree and ground, their vibrant colours preserved, as if time had woven a delicate tapestry in the midst of autumn.
The stillness magnified the beauty of nature's transitions, each leaf suspended in a moment of graceful surrender.
Even the smallest details were held captive by this temporal freeze.
Blades of grass stood upright, dewdrops clinging to their tips, their verdant hues frozen in time.
Insects were suspended mid-flight, their delicate wings poised for movement, while the sound of their buzzing was silenced, absorbed into the quietude.
The scene before Erika was one of exquisite serenity and surrealism.
"You're here" she said as she knew who had come.
There is a smile on her face
Someone emerged from the distorted space
the surrounding area was engulfed in a mesmerizing display of ethereal energy. Space and time seems to inflate and deflate
The fabric of space itself seemed to ripple and warp, as if the very dimensions were being contorted to accommodate his arrival.
Waves of shimmering light cascaded outward from the center of the distortion, pulsating with a myriad of colours that defied description.
These undulating waves appeared to intersect and overlap
Within this shifting backdrop, the man emerged, floating above the summit.
This man is none other than Jean the Time Monarch
the space around Jean appeared to bend and fold, as if he were stepping through a portal from another realm.
The edges of his figure seemed to blur, merging seamlessly with the distorted surroundings.
As he floated forward, the rippling energy trailed behind him, leaving a faint afterglow that gradually dissipated into the stillness.
Amidst this spectacle, Erika's smile remained unchanged.
Her gaze met Jean's cold eyes with a calm determination.
And the moment he saw Erika he said
"We need to talk"
....
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