♱ Chapter • 130 ♱

♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Elaine ⋅• ♱

"I’m not Asra," she said with trembling lips "it may seem crazy, it may seem meaningless, but... it’s the truth. A few months ago, I woke up in Asra’s body, in Calisto’s arms. I thought it was some kind of dream... or whatever, something that would end soon."

"Dream?" I put my eyebrows together and she laughed low.

"Well..." sighed "where I lived... in a distant era of this, you, Callisto, Asmodeus - all were just characters in a story."

"Characters?"

"Yes, characters from a book."

I raised one eyebrow in complete surprise and confusion.

"Then..."

"So when I opened my eyes and faced this world for the first time, I thought I was asleep. I thought that after reading this work so many times... I had had a dream extremely lived."

The more Asra spoke, the more it seemed confused and at the same time - it made sense.

"I heard Callisto receive the information about his emergence and how it was a dream... I wanted to try to change history" she laughed and my eyes widened.

That’s when everything finally started to change. That’s when Asra emerged that day, in a place where she shouldn’t go and in Callisto’s place, she fought me.

"Then we ended up fighting and when I realized..." she touched her own belly and I closed my eyes tightly.

It was my fault.

I had tried to take control, I had called his name and while fighting inside my own body... that thing went through a spear in Asra’s stomach.

Of course.

He would never allow me to act.

"I..." my mouth opened, but how could I talk? How could I tell Asra it was my fault?

"Well... it made me wake up" she said as she looked at the ground "I thought it was a dream, until that spear went through me. Until... I had to face reality. I could die."

I blinked.

"Calm..." I held her hand with a certain force "you... you said you had read this story several times, so..."

The redhead’s face closed.

"I..."

"You knew what was going to happen in front of the temple, that means you also knew..."

Asra grunted.

"I knew that you would ascend, I knew that Callisto would go there, but I did not know about the spear, I did not know about it holding you in the dungeon for so long" his lips trembled "the truth is that my actions began to change the original story."

I shuddered.

"Asra... no. That’s not your name, right?"

She shook her head negatively.

"So what is it?"

The pink lip was bitten with some anxiety.

"Ke... Keir. My name, before... was Keir."

My mind seemed blurred. Keir... I felt a familiarity with that name that seemed unreal to me.

"Keir..." I called her "what was... the original story?"

Her mouth opened and then closed.

"Elaine, I... I don’t know if I should..."

Of course.

I closed my eyes tightly.

Of course she did not know whether or not to speak, after all, who in good conscience would speak.

"Is it that bad?" I couldn’t help but ask and her face became contorted into a grimace I couldn’t decipher.

"I..." she sighed and even though it looked like a straight fight, she muttered "you and Calisto were a couple..., well... partially. The story was called the sacrifice of the demon king."

I swallowed hard, ironically it seemed like a suitable name for our future in all those damn lives.

"Let me guess" I muttered "Callisto fell in love with me for the similarities with his late wife and then... after we found in each other a fanciful and unreal love, he sacrificed himself in front of me, for my sake."

She blinked, she was surprised.

"How? How do you know?" Smile, a smile that not even if I wanted to, would reach my eyes.

"Because I’ve lived it... a thousand times."

Keir stared, but her mouth didn’t even move, it was like she was waiting, processing. So... I continued.

"Calisto died... and I was taken by Miguel. My... work had ended here, so when I was taken to heaven, everything became a real hell" laughs, a lifeless laugh for remembering everything with perfection "it was... it was torturous, until I could not stand it anymore, but when I opened my eyes after throwing myself from the tower where Miguel held me... I woke up."

I felt Keir’s hand shake mine.

"You..."

"Yes... I woke up and was in the orphanage again. I was in that cold place... I knew what would happen next, after all... it had happened before" I took a deep breath and when I let go... I gathered the strength to continue, to tell what I had never told anyone before "I tried to change things, but..." my voice failed "it didn’t work..."

"What... has happened?"

"I lost control" I muttered "I lost control of my own body and then I became just a puppet, a soul trapped in its own body that just watched the same events again and again."

"Then..."

"That’s when you showed up, that day in front of the temple... when I spoke your name..." my voice was choked "it was that day that after thousands of lives, I finally felt I could do something. It’s almost ironic that you tell me this is all a story you’ve read, but... how can I not believe it when I’ve had to watch it so many times? I..." my whole body trembled, it was almost as if all that was an ancient and distant memory, but the truth was that it was not "I really could not do anything, I was trapped and just wanted everything to stop, but it did not stop..."

"I’m sorry..." she said with a broken voice.

"It wasn’t your fault..." I said intertwining my fingers to hers "in the end... you set me free. When... he brought me, when... he stood by me... I could speak again, breathe, walk..." he smiled and this time, something shone inside me, timidly and calmly, but I could feel it shine "It may seem silly, but for those who have lived for so long trapped inside themselves... it’s as if someone finally allowed me to return. Well... you allowed me to come back."

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