The girl woke up surrounded by tombs. The sunlight caressed her rosy cheeks as the breeze made her hair flutter.
There was no visible expression on Freya's countenance. She ambled over, putting a white lily on top of every grave. The rest of the bouquet was scattered around by her.
Her movements were graceful as she danced in the centre of the tombs. The grass tickled her ankle but the girl paid no mind. The flowers flew up, cooperating with her. With a mesmerising voice like that of a siren, she sang,
"One, two, three, four nights,
The nightmare hunts me, I'm not alright.
I'm lonely and can no longer fight.
Five, six, seven days,
My heart drowned in despair.
The crystals of life have cracked and I wanna die.
Eight, nine, ten is my limit,
The wonderful dreams engulfed my head.
While illusions, they strip me bare.
How defenceless and weak have I become.
Where are you now?
Will I find you again?
Why did you go while I had to stay?
Will you wait, wait for me somewhere?
But look at the time!
The secret is out and I shall hide.
Because deep inside me,
Resides a taboo that has been realised."
The girl stopped her movements slowly before slumping down, sobbing out tears of blood for a long long time. Out of the blue, a hand reached out and patted her shoulder, making her jolt up.
The temperature dropped several degrees, making even Freya shiver. She didn't dare to look at the man behind her...she no longer dared.
"This is what you get for disobeying me."
Freya's aquamarine eyes drooped, "I just...miss them. You are fate itself...don't kill them again. This may be the last time I can turn back time of the demon realm."
Fate stayed silent before sighing, "When will you understand? We are different from them. One more time and you may no longer exist."
"...I know. A new lord of the demon realm will be brought to existence to replace me if I were to disappear, it won't matter."
"Why are you so stubborn?"
"...I'm sorry."
Fate wrinkled his brows, "Do as you please. Their fates have been set in stone, at least one of them shall face death. There is nothing I can do, but you can try your best. I will not waste any effort to end or save those insignificant creatures."
Freya nodded weakly.
"This will be the fifth time you turned back time, bear the consequences yourself. It's better if you disappear, the next lord of the demon realm should be easier to manage."
Her eyes curved with a small smile, "I do wish to disappear. I'm...tired. I won't do anything if I fail this time. I'll admit that it's time for their souls to rest for eternity."
She had been forcefully pulling their souls out from the reincarnation cycle, returning time to the moment she was created by the demon realm.
Fate shifted his gaze away, she really looked exhausted, those empty eyes of despair were not pleasant to look at.
Freya beamed as the demon realm began to quake, "I'll count on you to erase my existence then, My Lord."
Freya woke up with tears streaming down her face. It's been five months since the exam. Her memories have been returning to her bit by bit through her dreams. She reckoned this should be the final piece to the puzzle.
Things were getting more complex and complicated. She quickly reviewed and concluded everything.
Ever since Caiden regained his memories, another set of memories invaded her mind. That should be the first life. After the exam, the memories of her second, third, fourth and fifth life returned to her making the present her sixth life.
She wiped away her tears and sighed, if she had to be more specific, this is her twelfth life. After all, she died in every lifetime to prevent the destruction of the demon realm.
"I suddenly feel proud of myself." She mumbled with a mocking smile.
But there was a problem, she could only turn back the time of the demon realm that she is in charge of. That means almost a millennium has passed outside the demon realm.
Well, as long as she made sure no outsiders enter and no demons exit the demon realm it should be fine. Thank goodness her father didn't notice something wrong when he went to fetch her in the human realm a decade ago.
However, she could no longer control who goes in and out of the demon realm. Turning back the time cost too much of her mana and soul. Even now she still needs to provide the demon realm mana to keep it functioning.
She ruffled her hair in frustration, thrashing around in bed with a muffled scream. Well, no use in sitting around-...her eyes widened as her face turned red.
"H-how long have you been there, Brother Luca?" Her knuckles turned white from clenching the pillow.
"I just entered, I saw nothing." His eyes curved into crescents.
Freya let a sigh of relief but her eyes were still full of distrust and wariness. Luca couldn't help but chuckle, she resembled a cat with its fur standing up, cute.
Luca stared at her as a warm smile spread on his face, "Not going to yell anymore?"
Freya's face turned cold as she threw the pillow toward him. Of course, he easily avoided it.
"I knocked but you didn't reply. I was worried so I just let myself in."
She buried her face into her palms out of embarrassment, "What are you doing in my room? It's still early."
Luca approached her and brought her into his embrace, nuzzling his chin on her head, "You're supposed to spend today with me. Have you forgotten? And it's not early anymore."
She didn't forget, it has been a long time since they spent a day together since Luca was busy with work because of the exam seasons...but she was indeed not aware of the time-
"It's freaking six in the morning!" Freya pointed at the clock. "You're getting more and more-"
"Good at pissing you off?" Luca tilted his head, his handsome countenance was enlarged when he leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Forgive your brother for loving you too much, my Yaya."
Her pout made his eyes soften even more. She sighed in resignation, "I also love Brother Luca very much."
Luca hummed and asked in a gentle tone, "Is there something bothering you?"
Freya's eyes flicked up staring at him. He caressed her cheeks, "You woke up with tears."
"It was a nightmare."
Luca knew she won't yield, he wouldn't have persisted if he deemed it wasn't serious. However, "You were so worked up because of a nightmare?"
Freya nuzzled against his chest, "It was too real...I'm afraid, but it's just a dream."
Luca stroked her back carefully, there was no way of getting information out of her. He sunk into a reverie, Freya has been acting strangely after the exam.
She was constantly in a tense state, her anxiety was clear to see. Albeit she probably didn't notice herself.
"I'm going to go wash up and change, then we'll head to your place." Freya pulled away and headed to the bathroom.
The way they spend time together was very calming, Luca would play the guqin as Freya listened. She would brew tea for both of them to enjoy. Freya loved this tranquil ambience.
This room was lined with tatami mats in the centre while lively green bamboos surrounded it. It had became a habit to change into a Hanfu whenever she visited the west.
Today, she wore a matching one with her brother, the inner skirt was white while the robe was bright crimson. She rested her head on Luca's shoulder and closed her eyes, listening to the soothing music.
She loved it when Luca played the guqin. He uses his mana to make the pieces have certain effects, she fancied the heart calming and mind cleansing one the most.
The pleasant melody entered her ears making her exhale in comfort as the music wash away the troubles in her heart.
She saw a crystal clear lake in front of her. There were no ripples but the striking red flowers caught her attention. She reached out to the red lotus flower in front of her, so beautiful.
But before she could reach it, she was forcefully dragged out from the scenery by excruciating pain. Her eyes shot open as her hand reached for where her heart was.
A part of her soul shattered. Sharp fragments of crystals came out from her chest, scaring the light out of Luca. Blood soaked the white cloth scarlet.
"Yaya?!"
Luca reached out for her only to be grasped by her, her voice trembled, "T-the butterfly was used...uncle is in danger!"
She could no longer care about the pain she was going through. A desperate yell came out from her throat, "Teleport to Uncle now! Quickly."
Fate's words looped in her head like a broken recorder, 'their fates have been set in stone, at least one of them shall face death.'
[A/N: Ahhhh! I'm back! I finally freed time. I'll try my best to update once a week. Thanks for reading this book. <3
ps. it's going to have a happy ending, at least that's what I plan for now, so just stick around to the end]