Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.
Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Time*
Chapter 45: A Dying Wish
"I agree to be with—"
I was abruptly cut off as Momoyo slammed into me, her lips crashing onto mine with a fierce intensity that stole my breath. Every ounce of passion she could muster poured into that kiss, leaving me stunned and flushed.
"Good. Good. Good." Tesshin nodded in approval, his expression lighting up with visible relief. "You have no idea how worried your parents and I have been, Momoyo-chan. We all thought you were into girls, which would've been perfectly fine, but we still needed an heir for the next generation. Now that this young man is here, we can finally stop worrying!"
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Momoyo pulled back, her glare sharp as she continued to cling to me possessively. "If anything, the sheer number of suitors coming to ask for my hand should tell you that I'm very much desired, thank you very much."
"Exactly!" Tesshin threw up his hands, exasperated. "Do you know how many of those sickos came to me purely because of your looks? I was terrified for their lives! One wrong move, and you'd probably kill them if they tried anything!"
"Why did you call them 'sickos,' if you don't mind me asking?" I finally found my voice, still dazed from the sudden kiss.
Tesshin looked me dead in the eyes, face unreadable. "Because 99% of them openly admitted they wanted Momoyo-chan to step on them."
"I was wondering why some guys seemed too excited when I kicked them away..." Momoyo muttered to herself, furrowing her brows in thought. "And they kept coming back the next day, too."
"I recall a report about those... boys." Tesshin said dryly, giving her a flat stare. "They continued searching for you around town, hoping to fight you again."
"Still?" Momoyo blinked, visibly confused. "Well, it's not like I wander outside the Kawakami Temple as often as I used to..."
"Right... anyway." I cut in, turning back to Tesshin. "Is there anything else we need to talk about besides officially confirming my relationship with Momoyo here?"
Tesshin blinked at me, looking mildly surprised, as if he'd forgotten there was a main topic.
"Yes." Tesshin said, rubbing his beard thoughtfully as he locked eyes with me, his tone deadly serious. "How long do you think it'll take before Momoyo is pregnant with your child?"
"What kind of question is that?!" Momoyo shrieked, launching herself at her grandfather in a blur of fury. Her limbs became a storm of rapid punches and kicks, each strike fueled by equal parts embarrassment and rage.
But Tesshin remained calm, his expression unreadable as he casually dodged every blow. It was like he'd done this dance a hundred times before and won each time without breaking a sweat.
Meanwhile, I silently shifted my awareness.
Switching over to the Pathways: Error and Eternal Edict.
The world around me seemed to shift and expand. Compared to my usual Dual-Pathways Fool and Eternal Edict, this combination offered a completely different perspective, one more chaotic, less bound by rigid structure. The moment Error clicked into place, my vision was flooded with tangled threads of potential futures, wild and branching.
Fate Sense surged under the influence of the Error Pathway's Theft ability.
And then I saw it.
So many futures. So many stolen moments, stolen power, stolen outcomes. A thousand different ways to take without being seen, to bend fate itself through stolen paths. My mind reeled at the sheer number of possibilities—each one absurd, dangerous, and yet... entirely within reach.
This might be a bit addictive.
I barely registered Momoyo and Tesshin's high-speed fight continuing right in front of me, their motions a blur of strikes, counters, and scolding shouts echoing off the temple walls.
I blinked.
Somehow, I was now holding a wooden staff.
I tilted my head, realizing I had subconsciously stolen it from Tesshin, no less, just as he was about to use it to deliver one of his classic, sage-like "lessons" to Momoyo. That moment, accidentally interrupted by me, resulted in him getting completely distracted and almost catching a full-force kick to the head from his granddaughter.
He dodged just in time, but his glare in my direction made it very clear that he knew.
In any case, I suppose it's now obvious: the Eternal Edict Pathway pairs a little too well with the Error Pathway.
I could feel it again, that strange slippage like a thread unraveling just beneath the surface of my thoughts. If I wasn't careful, I'd start pulling things from people, from anything, without even meaning to. The fact that I now carried the Error's Uniqueness only made the situation more volatile.
Now, on top of the high possible of losing control as a Dual-Pathways Beyonder. I now have to worry about stealing whenever I'm using the Pathways of Error and Eternal Edict together.
I glanced over at Momoyo. She was still fiercely trying to land a clean hit on her grandfather, every movement sharp and fast, but ultimately falling short. Tesshin danced around her strikes like a breeze between falling leaves, occasionally chuckling with the kind of infuriating amusement only old masters could pull off.
I exhaled, lowering the staff, unsure whether to return it, hide it, or pretend I'd always had it.
So... now what? We'd officially made contact with Tesshin and, by extension, the rest of the Kawakami Clan.
Hours later*
Finalizing... Idle S9Monster survived for 2 days.
Idle S9Monster brought back the Sealed Artifact: Groselle's Travels.
Acting Progress... 9%. 3x Boost in effect... 27%.
Now this was something I hadn't expected to come across at all. Still, there was no denying its value. This was an incredibly useful Sealed Artifact, assuming it was used correctly.
Yeah... there was no way I was keeping this thing out in the open.
It was already sealed within the Cards of Blasphemy, and it was staying there. No way in hell was I pulling it out, not without risking being trapped inside due to the Groselle's Travels' downside. I didn't even know if it followed the same internal logic as the ones in The Lord of the Mysteries. Suppose there was a full story to "complete" in order to leave the world of the Sealed Artifact safely.
Either way, it was too volatile to risk for casual use.
But if the right enemy came along? Oh yeah... this thing could be terrifyingly effective.
With that thought, I allowed the Cards of Blasphemy to fade before my eyes, vanishing completely.
My focus returned to Momoyo, who was now busy trying her best to keep Aya's head from falling off her recently recovered body. The elites of the Kawakami Clan had wasted no time; once they were informed of Aya's condition, her missing body was retrieved with a swiftness that was honestly a little terrifying. Not even a full day had passed, and the problem had already been solved as if it were just a minor inconvenience.
The kind of insane resources they must have…
Yeah—that's exactly why I need to build my own organization.
"I still don't understand how in the world you didn't notice someone nearby who could literally chop your head off, Aya." Momoyo sighed, carefully wrapping medical tape around the base of Aya's neck. "There. That should do it."
Aya didn't flinch. She just sat there, eerily serene, her expression unreadable.
I tilted my head slightly, my gaze flicking between the two of them. "So, Aya… now that you've regained your body, what do you plan to do?" I turned slightly toward Momoyo. "And what about you? What do you want to do?"
"I want to die." Aya said calmly, as if she were commenting on the weather.
"I—huh?!" Momoyo stammered, visibly thrown off. She blinked hard, her hands frozen in mid-motion. "W-what the hell kind of answer is that?!"
"To answer your earlier statement—" Aya began, her tone steady and matter-of-fact. "It's not that I failed to notice someone coming to take my head." She glanced off to the side, eyes distant. "I was the one who severed it myself. I intended to end my life within the tomb I had constructed—to seal my body away forever. But it seems tomb raiders eventually found it… and stole my body, which led to my unexpected awakening. I hadn't planned on returning after decapitating myself."
There was a quiet beat of silence.
"Why would you want to die again, then?" Momoyo asked before I could speak, her voice a mixture of confusion and concern.
Aya's gaze returned, calm and heavy. "Because I want to rest." She said quietly. "I'm tired… tired of dealing with this stupid world we live in."
"Do you want me to perform a ritual that will truly end your life?" I asked Aya quietly. "Or would you prefer I seal you away somewhere no one could ever find you—where you can rest, undisturbed, for eternity?"
"Chikao?!" Momoyo looked at me in disbelief, her eyes wide.
I kept my gaze on Aya, but my words were for Momoyo too. "We don't know exactly what Aya's been through, but for someone to go as far as severing their own head, to willingly entomb themselves… that's not a decision made on a whim. She must have thought it through, over and over again." I glanced at Momoyo, my tone calm but firm. "And even now, she still wants to die. Could you really stop her if she tried to find another way? If she's determined enough, it's only a matter of time."
I paused, then continued.
"And even if she succeeds—what then? Her body would remain. Eventually, someone would disturb it again, and she'd be pulled back into this world she clearly wants no part of. She'd have to endure all this… again." My eyes returned to Aya. "And I doubt she wants to go through the same ordeal just to get her head out of a tomb again unless someone takes her head along with her body in the first place, she'd have to rely on strangers to help her, all over again."
"If possible… give me a true death." Aya bowed her head low before me.
Momoyo frowned, her hands clenched at her sides, but she said nothing. It was clear she couldn't find the right words—not now.
"Alright." I said after a moment. "However, in exchange, I may use the ritual to transform your body into something I can wield. Not as a mockery of who you were, but as a weapon… a vessel for power. I promise you this, Aya: even if your form changes, you will never awaken again. Not even then."
I watched her carefully, making sure she understood the weight of my offer. This wasn't mercy—it was finality.
"That's fine with me." Aya said, her voice quiet but unwavering. "As long as I can't think, can't be conscious, can't sense a single thing… that's perfectly fine with me." She straightened her back, locking eyes with me with a calm, steady gaze.
There was no hesitation. No fear. Just resolve.
"Then." I said, nodding slowly. "Let's get to it."
I let out a long sigh as I began preparing the ritual. The goal was to transform Aya into a Beyonder weapon if I was lucky. Worst case? She'd become a Sealed Artifact, volatile and unpredictable. In that event, I'd just toss her into the City of Calamity and leave her there until I reached a high enough Sequence to wield her without risking my own sanity at best.
Either way, this was going to be a delicate process. One mistake, and I might end up with something far more dangerous than useful.
Author Note: Here you guys go.
Current Sefirot: Sefirah Castle, City of Calamity, Nation of Disorder, Key of Light, River of Eternal Darkness