Volume 7 – Chapter 10 – Part 5 – Episode – Ingvild Leviathan

Ingvild Leviathan's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

Life…it's very unexpected, right? But even when it is, it always finds a way to make things right in the end. You just have to believe in it because, right now, I'm very happy. Because—

"Ah! Aaron-senpai, that's not fair! You already ate two of them!!" Saji-san shouted as he tried to grab the cupcake out of Aaron's hand.

"I'm the one who made 'em; at least let me eat a few," he replied, shoving the entire cupcake into his mouth in one go.

Saji-san turned around, tears streaming down his face, and crawled over to Ruruko, his girlfriend. "R-Ruruko-chan!"

"I agree with Aaron-senpai. He made it, and he gets to eat a few in return."

"You're supposed to be on my side!"

"I'm on the winning side! …So a second cupcake, please!" she asked and received one. "Thank you!"

"What the hell—!?" As Saji-san went to complain, Aaron shoved a cupcake in his mouth, and he began to choke on it.

It's been a day since the attacks, and it's the weekend, so it's as chaotic as ever in Aaron's home. A few people came by to visit today; these included Saji-san, Ruruko, Asbeel-san, Tobio-san, Sae-san, Hana-chan, and a few others.

"Don't tease Saji too much, Aaron," chided Sona, and Aaron laughed.

"I'm just giving Genshirou a healthy dose of teasing; it's fine." He grabbed a tray and handed it to him after Saji-san swallowed the cupcake that was forced into his mouth.

"That hurt! And thank you very much. It's still delicious…" he grumbled, eating one cupcake after the other.

The room suddenly went quiet as we ate our fill, and the occasional chatter was heard, but it was mostly silent.

"Tobio, remember what I said a few days ago?" Sae-san suddenly asked her fiancé.

"Hmm? Yeah? Is it about the—"

"Yes." Sae-san felt her stomach, and she blushed. "Um…there's no easy way to say this, but... I'm pregnant again."

Saji-san and Ruruko dropped their cupcakes as everyone stared at Sae in disbelief. It's only been a few months since she was last pregnant, and this was quite a shocker to all of us.

Even Tobio-san was quite taken aback by this announcement, as he blushed too, but he ended up smiling and touching Sae-san's belly. Then the congratulations started.

"Congrats, Sae! Another one on the way, huh?" Kanami asked, nudging the pregnant woman and making her blush.

Natsume did the same thing to Tobio-san. "Tobi, you dog, literally! Who knew you'd do that to your fiancé in just two years!"

Both of them ended up blushing quite badly by the end of all the teasing. However, most of them were genuine congratulations on their part.

Aaron went up to them and said, "I guess I'm going to be blessing another family member, huh? Any idea of the sex yet?"

Sae-san shook her head. "No, I want to keep it a secret from ourselves till the end, so we'll only know when I give birth," she explained.

"I see," Aaron replied, turning around. Kouki-san was staring at him, Tobio, and Sae-san. "Is something wrong, Kouki?"

He sighed and crossed his arms. "If you're not going to say, I will." He looked back at Tobio-san and then at Sae-san. "You guys are two horny mother fuckers! You're only doing it raw? No wonder Sae got pregnant again—holy shit, Tobi, I didn't think you were that ballsy—"

His rant came to an end as Kalawarna-san, while blushing, grabbed his head and slammed it to the ground with a lot of force, knocking him out.

"I-I'm sorry for this idiot's—"

"I-it's fine," Sae-san interrupted. The room became a bit awkward as silence fell, but—

"Well, he does have a point, nya," Kuroka added. She received glares from Grayfia and Shirone for it, making her hide behind the couch.

Aaron tried to move the topic to a different one, but ended up being the main topic after—along with me since he proposed to me last night, and everyone started congratulating us too; it was pretty embarrassing.

After, I was forced to explain what he did, and a few girls sighed. Recalling the memory made me blush and my heart flutter; it was both a sad and happy occasion—a memory I'll never forget.

"Gee, I wish ours was a bit more romantic," said Natsume.

"Riiiight~? But I'm not complaining since I beat a few of you, hehehe~" Kanami boasted proudly, earning a few jealous glares from them.

As everyone went back to happily chatting with each other, I began looking around the room slowly. It was such a peaceful sight filled with laughter and joy—the fact that they brought up my proposal made me start thinking about my past.

From the day I gained consciousness, from when I lived with my mother in Europe, to the time I woke up to Aaron in front of my eyes—even if it only took a year, it felt like a lifetime ago. Such thoughts made me tear up a bit.

— ○ ● ○ —

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

Many years ago, a certain descendent of the Leviathan devil bloodline impregnated a human woman. It was uncommon to have a child between humans and devils, so when this happened, the devil fled—he vanished, never to be seen again.

He was left with two choices: kill it or abandon it with its other parent. The man chose the latter and went back to the Underworld, leaving his newborn child and mother in the human world to fend for themselves.

Even with this, the woman who gave birth to this hybrid did not resent the man or her daughter. She loved her and took care of her. Even after being abandoned in Copenhagen, Denmark, they were happy. Even when times were tough and they had to scrape by, they were content with each other.

Iselin Aarflot—that was the name of Ingvild Leviathan's mother; she never married Nehunius Leviathan, so she never took his surname. She looked identical to Ingvild, except she was much older.

Once Iselin found out that Nehunius had left them, she started working at a nearby bakery and earned a living there. During that time, she left Ingvild to be taken care of by their neighbors, where she made friends with two of their daughters.

Everyone knew of Iselin's circumstances, and even back then, with its population, they helped them in any way they could. Whether that was babysitting for little Ingvild, giving them ingredients to make food with, or inviting them for food, the city had banded together to help them.

They weren't sure why, but when asked, it usually boiled down to, 'We just want to help them. That guy that Iselin got pregnant from looked really wealthy, so him leaving these two left a bitter taste in our mouths. So we want to make it easier for them. Iselin also stepped up and didn't abandon little Ingvild, even though most mothers at her age would.'

Ingvild grew up happy in this city, even with her tough life. However, that didn't last, as her mother was eventually hired by a good company and started earning a lot of money, and their lives quickly improved. But even then, they still lived quite modestly and repaid everyone who ever helped them, further earning them a good reputation in the community.

— ○ ● ○ —

Ingvild Leviathan's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

When I was around thirteen years old, I began to feel strange. Strangely, lights would cover my body from time to time, and my mom always told me I was special. But at the time, I didn't know what she meant, and this year was the year it all changed.

When I told her about it, she finally sat me down and told me more about who my father was and what I was.

"Ingvild, I told you a little when you were younger since you wouldn't understand. But it seems like the time is right, and I'll tell you now since it's happening to you," she told me. I was a bit frightened but said I was ready for whatever it was.

"You're a hybrid. You were born a human and a devil. I know this may sound unbelievable, but please listen to me. I have saved up the evidence over the years, so…" she trailed off and brought out a folder containing various things.

One of them was a photo of my dad, whoever that was. He clearly had bat wings, and his eyes were glowing. I didn't believe her—until she made some kind of magic circle thing in her hand and fired a ball of fire from it, surprising me.

"I'm…a devil? D-do I have to do bad things? I-is this the reason why my body is glowing…?" I asked in a panic and began to hyperventilate.

My mom quickly calmed me down and told me how it worked. She had researched this over the years, started to understand it to a degree, and told me how my demonic powers worked. She also told me about Sacred thingies that were given to humans by the God in Heaven. But she said it was rare, so I shouldn't think about it too much.

Over the course of the year, she began teaching me how to manipulate my demonic powers so I could defend myself when I was attacked, which scared me. However, she reassured me that we had never been attacked since we had lived here since I was born. She was only teaching me the 'what if' scenario, which I became fine with.

She made me promise her that I would never tell my friends about this or other adults; otherwise, it would make our lives complicated. Even at my age, I understood why, so I never planned on doing that, and I promised her too.

I was already a bit odd for someone my age—I had unique hobbies, many of which included me staring out at the sea or singing down there by myself, sometimes even at night. When I was younger, they saw it as cute, but now, some look at me oddly, but because of our reputation and the fact that I was helpful and didn't cause trouble, they didn't say anything about it.

However, I sometimes get judgmental looks from them. But I try to not let it get to me and keep on living my new life now—a life where I know that I'm a half-human, half-devil hybrid.

Mom explained that it was the reason why dad left—he was from a supposed extinct bloodline from the devils and that if they discovered us, the older generation devils may try to hunt us down, so she believes he did it to protect us.

Sometimes, she doesn't sound convinced when she says it whenever I ask about him. Whenever I go to the library to do research about my bloodline—the Leviathan—she tells me to take what's written with a grain of salt since most humans don't know what they're talking about. But she also told me that some of what's written has an element of truth to it.

The hypothesis I came up with is that some of the humans who wrote these down were involved in the supernatural while the rest weren't. Some who truly were in it were told different things, both lies and truths, while the others just made it out for attention. But these are just the thoughts of a thirteen-year-old girl.

I surmise that when and if the supernatural ever reveal themselves to the human world, many people's beliefs and world views will be turned upside down. Some may even double down and say it's all fake—until it's not. Time will only tell; maybe in the future a big enough event will happen to change that way of thinking for them, but who truly knows?

However, one day I asked Mom about how my dad looked, and she seemed hesitant to tell me.

"Why do you ask, Ingvild?" she asked.

"…I sometimes see a man at the corner of my visions when I'm out with my friends, but when I turn to look at them, they seem to disappear," I told her and described the man.

Mom seemed a bit shaken up by it, so I thought it might be a bad idea to bring it up, so I left it at that and changed the topic, but she quickly excused herself and left me.

'The way she reacted makes it seem like it's dad. If it is, why isn't he coming to us? Does his own status matter that much? Why not abandon it and be with your family?'

Maybe I was still immature and didn't understand many things, but as me—as a thirteen-year-old girl—these were my honest feelings. Even though I never met him or spoke to him, I still want to—maybe that shows how naïve I am, but... Is it a sin to want to know your other parent's face, name, and love?

Time passed on like this; I spent many days of my life here. My mother never remarried or found anyone else—I believe she loved him very much, even if he didn't return it. My mom is the type to fall in love hard and won't let go of it. I think she thinks he'll come back one day for us, but after all these years—I am seventeen now, and while I see him from time to time in my vision, he never approaches me.

I've asked her to go look for a new partner, but she only ever agreed on doing it once, and she couldn't help but compare him to my dad, so I gave up on the idea since, in her eyes, no one could ever stand up to him.

It was sad, but at the same time, it made me wonder why he thought of him that way. I thought maybe he used his demonic powers on her to manipulate her? But I never had any grounds for that, so I dismissed it not too long after.

One day, I felt strange. I was normally quite energetic and would go on walks along the beach or hang out with my friends, and recently, I started a part-time job to earn a bit of money for myself. With encouragement from my mom, her friends, and my friends, I wanted to pursue a singing career for myself.

My first step towards it was having enough money to pursue it full time, so after I graduate from school, I can invest my full time into my singing career.

I'm a hybrid, so I have a longer lifespan than my friends and mom, so at some point, I will need to live like vampires (and from my own research, they exist too), so seclusion and maybe releasing music from my own home will become the norm instead of going out and performing live shows and concerts? It sounds lonely, but I think I can do it.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Ingvild? Ingvild? Ingvild!?"

My eyes opened, and I looked at my mom in puzzlement. "Mom? Is something wrong?" I asked. Instead, she hugged me tightly, further puzzling me. She didn't say anything for the next few minutes as she continued to hug me. Finally, she separated from me and looked at me with moist eyes.

"Mom—"

"It's two in the afternoon. You've been asleep since seven in the evening yesterday. I thought you died, but felt that you were still breathing. Is something wrong? Are you feeling unwell? We're going to the doctors; let's go," she said very quickly, leaving no room for me to talk.

I quickly got dressed in my pajamas, and we left our home. Mom apparently called in sick for me for my job; I need to go and apologize to them after this visit. However, once we got there and spoke with the doctor, he did some tests on me and didn't find anything wrong. So our next stop was for food, since I was quite hungry.

"I'm sorry about this, mom," I suddenly said, halfway through eating my food. "I shouldn't have slept for so long…"

She grabbed my hand and rubbed it. "No, it's fine. If the doctor here can't find what's wrong with you, we may need to try outside of our city, but if they can't then…"

"Then…?"

"…It may be related to the supernatural, a sickness only those who are from it get—I'll look into Ingvild, so don't worry, okay?" she said, trying to comfort me.

But when I heard that, I became nervous and scared. If it's a sickness that comes from the supernatural, then wouldn't that mean only doctors from the supernatural may be able to cure it? If that is the case, then wouldn't that mean exposing me? Exposing who I really am—and if we do, the old devils may come after me—or maybe even other descendants from the Leviathan clan—the thought terrifies me.

I don't know how they're like; my dad certainly didn't help with that—being all mysterious and watching me from a distance over the years.

"…A sickness from the supernatural. Do you know anyone from it that can help us?" I asked, and to my relief, she nodded.

"Yes, they're—we can trust them. They've said that we can rely on them when the time is right; so far we haven't needed to, but maybe now is the time," she said and looked out the window.

I ate in silence for the next few minutes until mom looked back at me and said, "You want to apologize to your boss, right? Let's go over there and explain. After that, we'll go home and rest for the day. I have a few 'calls' I need to do."

When mom says 'calls', she means using those magic communication circles. Over the years, she became good at using them, but she said she couldn't use offensive spells; most were just a few convenient ones like igniting fire or making some water. She dubbed them 'utility spells' to help us. It was very effective when we were still scraping by, apparently.

Not having electricity to use the stove, she just gathered wood and used fire magic on it so she could cook. A bit of light magic or using fire magic for light in our little home. I wanted to use my own demonic powers like that too, but when I used them once, I nearly flooded our 'backyard', so I haven't attempted since then.

"Okay," I replied. After I was done, we went to my place of work, and I apologized to the owner, who was more than understanding and even gave me tomorrow off, which we were thankful for.

Once we got back home, I sat at my desk and opened my 'Lyric Notebook'. As it sounds, it's a notebook in which I wrote my lyrics. I've been doing this since I was fourteen, and I probably have thousands of lyrics written down from various songs I came up with over the years.

However, after I started writing more lyrics, everything became a bit blurry, and the next thing I knew, I woke up on my bed. Unsure of what time it was, when I looked at my clock, I saw that it was four.

"Oh…I fell asleep for an hour? That's better, right?" I asked myself, but when I tried to stand up, my legs felt weak and I fell, surprising me. "Mom!?" I shouted in a panic, and my mom came rushing into my room and pulled me up.

Just like yesterday, she held me and seemed to be openly weeping now.

"Mom? What's wrong? I just fell asleep for an hour after we got back…" I told her, trying to comfort her.

She pulled away and looked at me with uncertainty in her eyes. "…Ingvild…it's been a full day since you last woke up. When I went to come get you for dinner, you were on the ground in your room asleep."

...Eh? W-what do you mean I was…!? A full day? I was asleep for a full day?! How?! Why!?

"D-does this have anything to do with the illness I have?" I asked, and to my dread, she confirmed it with her nod.

"According to my friend, it's a rare disease some devils get—it seems like even hybrids like yourself get it. It's called the Devil Sleep Disease. It affects both high-class and low-class devils; they believe it also affects reincarnated and now hybrids like yourself."

"As it sounds, it puts you into a deep sleep, and you won't be able to wake up from it. In most cases so far, the devil passes on while they're asleep; there is no known cure," she said while tearing up.

It felt like my whole world slowed down. Mom kept speaking, but I couldn't hear any of it—it was as if I were submerged in water, and she tried talking down to me. At some point, mom started to shake me, but I didn't respond to her—when I finally looked back at her, I had a single question.

"Am I going to die?"

Mom's eyes widened in horror before she hugged me again. "No! No, no, no, no! I'm going to make sure you won't!"

That wasn't a reassuring or declaratory statement—it was more like a promise to herself and me. Because it was pretty obvious that mom didn't know if what she was saying would come true or not—even then, I have a longer lifespan than her. I may keep sleeping until she passes too; that thought terrifies me—this could be true for my friends, and it makes me quite lonely...

In the far future, everyone I know right now will be gone, yet I'll keep on living. Will I have the strength to keep going? Or will I end it all just to join them in the great beyond? I've never had thoughts like this before, and even thinking about them makes me uneasy.

The fact that they've appeared in my mind just shows how serious this is.

"Leave it to me, okay? I'll... get into contact with someone and maybe they can help us. For now... let's have you eat something, okay?" she said, holding back the tears.

I agreed with her, and we went to the kitchen, where she made something for me. This was obviously stressing my mom, but I couldn't really help her. I just need to stay positive; everything will work out in the end—we'll definitely beat it, and I can spend a normal life with everyone.

— ○ ● ○ —

…Days, weeks, months, or years—I don't even know anymore. The times that I fall asleep have become more frequent, but thankfully, I wake up from them thanks to a bracelet my mom gave me. It would shock me back awake if I started to fall asleep during the day, and that's helped me so far.

But there are times when it doesn't work, and I end up falling asleep for a few hours. She's become a mess during that time, and I feel even more guilty because of it—it's my fault for being a hybrid...

Even today, as my vision blurred and my consciousness began to flatter—and before I fell asleep—I heard mom talking to someone about something. The last words I heard were 'noble', 'underworld', and 'hospital' before blacking out.

Many times over, I always come to this strange landscape in my dreams. I was allowed to run free, create my own songs, and go on endless walks on the beach. I was aware that it was fake and that I was dreaming, but the feeling of euphoria while I was in it made it not matter for me.

In this dream, I didn't need to worry about anything. These dreams only started because of the devil's sleep disease I contracted, and this may have been my body or mind going into survival mode to protect me. I conjured up scenarios in my mind about the things I loved.

But from time to time, I hear voices that reach my subconscious, and in turn, they end up in my dream. Usually, it's just my mom humming something, an old lullaby, or giving me updates. It gave me peace of mind, but at the same time, it scared me since I didn't know how long I would be asleep for.

There were also long stretches of time where I heard nothing, sometimes just crying, which made me feel guilty, but one day I heard something new.

[Are you sure they can do something? C-can I see her again?]

[I have no guarantee that they can cure her, Iselin. For now, no one has been cured of it; you yourself know that. All I can say is that we may need her for a long time to study the disease. I will try to contact you.]

[…Please…anything for her; she's the only thing I have left, and contacting you was quite difficult…]

[…I was busy.]

[But Ingvild said you watched over her occasionally. Why didn't you—]

[…I'll be leaving now. We can try to discuss this when she wakes up. But for now, goodbye.]

[W-wait!]

After that short conversation, it became silent again. It was obvious who had me; it was dad, but why did he agree? And how long had I been asleep? It obviously wasn't short since he came to get me and bring me to the Underworld, but now I'm even more terrified.

I'm leaving Mom and going to the Underworld? How long will it be? Will I even wake up? Will I be trapped here forever?

So many questions raced through my mind, and it stayed like this for a long, long time. Silence—the occasional chatter about something I couldn't understand, so I began ignoring it. But again, after a certain amount of time, something changed.

[Sirzechs-chan! I managed to take her away from those nobles. Anyway, she's apparently a descendent of the Levithan bloodline—even more, she's a hybrid, a human and a devil. What should we do?] a feminine voice asked.

[…How about we ask the newly appointed Middleman to try and cure the disease? It's worth a shot, right? What do you two think?] asked a masculine voice.

[So far, he has created miracle after miracle; I don't see why not?] replied another masculine voice.

[…It is his job to accept requests from the Three Factions, so why not…?] another masculine voice said, although this voice sounded very tired.

[To Jin-chan then!]

"…I'm being moved again? I wonder how long it's been. But it sounds like someone is going to attempt to wake me up. It's probably going to end in failure. I don't hold much hope though…" I mumbled pessimistically.

After that, everything became silent again. During those times, I would usually sit by the beach and look out at the sea, even if it was all fake. It brought me some peace and kept back the dread of waking up hundreds, thousands, or millions of years into the future.

An immeasurable amount of time passed, and I finally heard something new again.

[Hey, hey! Hey Jin! Ready for a new harem member?] the same bubbly and energetic voice of a woman asked.

[What?] a man's voice asked back.

[The Sleeping Beauty is just behind this door; now go! Shoo! Shoo!]

[Why are you being so pushy? God damn.]

[Ow! Don't say his name so close to us!]

[Pfft—my bad.]

They seemed to be on friendly terms, and I don't think it was that…Sirzechs person? After a few seconds of silence, something in me changed, and I felt something leaving my body while my consciousness was being pulled out.

Eh? W-what's happening? Why am I—!

Am I waking up!? How?! Did that person do it…!? I'm excited but scared at the same time…

How long have I been asleep for…?

— ○ ● ○ —

My eyes fluttered open, and a new ceiling was above me. I turned my head to the side and saw two people I hadn't seen before.

"Who…?" I muttered, my voice sounding weak.

A woman with black hair and strange clothes walked over to me and crouched down at eye level. "I'm Serafall Leviathan, but I'm not a true Leviathan; I only received the 'title' of Leviathan through blood," she said and pointed back at the man behind her. "You've been asleep for 100 years, and that man behind me helped wake you up."

I could only stare at the woman in shock.

100 years…? Then mom... and everyone back in my home are... I felt my eyes start to dampen, but I composed myself. "T-thank you very much." I thanked them both and tried to stand up, but I nearly fell, so the woman named Serafall helped me instead.

"I…w-what am I supposed to do now?" I asked them. I had no home. Ah, the one who brought me here was... my dad, right? Then where is he…? "W-what about my father?" I asked again.

The woman named Serafall seemed annoyed as she said, "I invited him today, but he declined because he's busy."

After talking to her for a bit, it was decided that I would spend my new life with the man behind her—his name was Jin, and he was the newly appointed Middleman. I was a bit skeptical, but he seemed friendly enough, and the current Leviathan said he was trustworthy, so I decided to accept.

"…It hasn't changed much," I muttered. I paused for a moment—how did I know that? I was asleep for most of it. Did my body just know? Maybe I was here for so long that I—

"Hmm. Well, the Underworld probably hasn't changed that much, but in the human world? Yeah, it definitely did. Technology has advanced by a lot, and many things have changed while you slept," he told me.

Glancing at me, he added, "I'll take you there once you get the hang of walking again."

He suddenly let go of me, and my legs started to wobble uncontrollably. In a panic, I looked back at him, and he was smiling at me. He's not a bad person, so he's probably not doing this out of malice, but I would have preferred if he let me get used to it in a slower manner…!

"Come over to me; if you fall, I'll catch you," he told me, so I did. I walked over to him very slowly; I fought the urge to just fall over, and I eventually got to him and collapsed. He caught me, and I sighed in relief.

"Shall we try that again?" he asked. I wanted a bit of independence, so being able to walk by myself should be my ultimate goal for now!

— ○ ● ○ —

A few minutes later, I had regained the ability to walk on my own. However, it felt like he did something to me to help expedite the process, but he chose not to say anything about it.

It started slowly, but then he kept increasing the distance between us as I slowly got stronger. It slowly stopped being serious, and it had become a sort of little joke between us. I would deliberately and exaggeratedly wobble my body before jumping into his arms.

Doing this was kind of nostalgic since it let me remember the fond memories I had with my friends 100 years ago. Even though we had just met, I was already having fun and smiling. I had thought it would take a lot longer, but I guess I was wrong—unless he did more than just help me walk earlier when my body felt strange.

"Am I interrupting something?" the voice of Serafall asked. When we turned around, we saw the current Leviathan…cupping her breasts, and a strange conversation started between her and Jin.

— ○ ● ○ —

A lot of time passed after that, and I learned many things about Jin, his friends, and his harem, which initially shocked me, but when mom and I were doing research about the supernatural, we found that having harems in it was quite common, so I wasn't that shocked when he said he had one.

Laptops, computers, the internet, and many other things had been invited or improved to such a degree that it felt so fast! But... I guess I became a bit spoiled over time since some things felt slower, even if I was a 'relic' of the past. However, Jin gave me a new laptop that he made himself and made very powerful, and I was grateful.

Akeno, Kuroka, and Jin were out today, leaving only me and Grayfia in his home. I hadn't spoken much to her yet since she's a bit hard to approach—she usually has a stoic or unfriendly look on her face. Even Akeno has a slightly hard time approaching her, and they've known each other for a long time because she apparently works as a maid for her master.

The Evil Piece system was only briefly touched upon by Mom and I since we didn't plan on diving too far into the supernatural; we only wanted to know the basics of many things and leave it at that. The Underworld, their Satans, and other things about it like the aristocratic society down there with their noble systems and such.

Even though I was a descendant of the Leviathan blood, I had no idea what that indicated. However, Jin and Grayfia would sometimes talk to me about it and what the implications would be if my existence was found out—especially Grayfia.

She said it would bring a lot of unwanted attention to me if I wished to remain anonymous. Jin also wanted to remain unknown, but given his position, that wouldn't happen. Even when he keeps saying, 'I'll deal with this and then stop for a bit', but trouble seems to find him.

Right now, I was browsing a site called 'Youtube', and it had a lot of music videos—and a large archive of past and present music made by human artists all around the world. Akeno also told me about a place called DeviTube—it's similar to Youtube but for devils.

There weren't too many devils that did music, and most that I found were amateurs at best—well, compared to the human artists I had seen since I started browsing the site.

It reignited the passion I once had for singing—all those notes and lyrics were written a hundred years ago. I wonder what happened to them? The same is true of my home and my belongings. If what I heard my mom say was correct, then she promised to keep my things hidden so that when I woke up in the future, I would be able to find them.

A place—a spot that both of us knew about, a place where I could find it—only one place came to mind back in Copenhagen. It was in a discreet place that I hadn't told my friends about, and only my mom and I knew about it.

I was tempted to ask Jin about it, but we're still relatively new friends, so suddenly asking to take a trip to Denmark of all places may seem odd to him. So I may ask him in the future instead. He also asked if I wanted to attend Kuoh Academy with him in around a month. I'm still considering the offer. However, I am interested since I didn't get to finish my education 100 years ago.

It would be—

"Ingvild-sama?"

"Y-yes?" I replied, looking up from where I was sitting in the living room. Grayfia was there with some tea, and I accepted it. To my surprise, she sat down beside me, and we fell into silence.

As I began to drink the tea, she suddenly asked, "Will you accept Jin's invitation to study at Kuoh? If you do, you will be in your last year—so you will be studying with Rias-oujou-sama, Akeno, Sona Siti, Tsubaki Shinra, and Jin. You wish to relive a bit of your life, don't you? You were essentially frozen in time."

"…I'm not sure, but I'm leaning towards saying yes," I replied. Finishing my school career wouldn't be bad, and getting new friends wouldn't be bad either. Akeno and Kuroka have been great, and I consider them good friends, but I sort of want human ones too.

It seems like they tend to have more friends that are part of the supernatural, and I see why—they're part of it, so there is a higher chance that they'll live longer than normal humans. Increasing their lifespans one way or another, unlike normal humans who die around 70 to 90, if they're lucky, they will live to or past 100 years old.

"Ultimately, it's your decision. What you do with your life is up to you; just make sure you don't have regrets, and who knows? If you do attend, you may make very precious memories there, meet new people, and maybe even grow as a person," she said before getting up and leaving.

I've read several stories on the internet about how people hated their high school life while others enjoyed it. It really depends on what kind of school you go to, your own personality, and the people who go there—as well as the teachers.

But from what Akeno said, Kuoh... doesn't seem that bad (not including the stalking incident and perverts), maybe I'll try going... Yeah, I'll agree to attend.

— ○ ● ○ —

Things have been strange. After Lavinia almost died, Jin has been acting a bit strange—no, it's quite obvious that he's depressed about it. At times he acts like himself, while at others he's quite stoic. To say it isn't like him is an understatement.

Presently, it was nighttime in his [Pocket Dimension]. Mostly everyone has gone to their rooms or is hanging out in small pairs or groups around the replica of our home here. Although Akeno, Lavinia, and a few others have been wondering where he went.

He completely erased his presence and just disappeared every now and again; it looks like tonight was one of them.

Still panicking, Lavinia and Akeno ran around the home, opening and closing doors. I offered to go outside and look for him, and they agreed too. So I left through the front door and flew around looking for him. The [Pocket Dimension] was vast, and honestly, looking for him this way seems counterproductive, but those two probably won't calm down unless someone offers to do this.

To my surprise and luck, I found him. He was sitting near a cliff while dangling one of his legs off the drop. Landing behind him, I walked up to him, kneeled down, and hugged his head from behind.

"Everyone's looking for you, you know? Lavinia and Akeno are panicking…" I told him and stroked his head.

"I just needed to think, that's all. I'm mostly supervising everyone's growth and sometimes training on my own; I'll apologize once I get back," he said and kept on looking at the view in front of us.

We're not sure what kind of thoughts Jin has had since that happened; we've only been here for around two years, so it's been up in the air, but it's been bothering him. But when looking at him like this...

"…Do you think you're perfect?" I asked.

"Where did that come from all of a sudden?" he queried, attempting to look back at me.

"…Please answer my question," I instructed him. Jin fell silent for a bit, but I felt him shake his head.

Instead of answering, he said, "You're not the first one to ask me that, In. Cúntóir, the two dragons, and... well, someone else did, and it left me thinking about a lot of things. The thought of just running away sometimes flashes in my mind, but I quickly dismiss it since I'll be found relatively easily by 'them'," he said tiredly. "Yeah, I know, it doesn't sound like me—I just have to push through it—"

"You're not the type to give up that easily. Why not try getting through it from another angle?" I told him.

"I—"

"What are we to you, Jin?" I asked another question. "We're certainly not just tools for you to use, right? Some of us are more than just friends to you; some are comrades, some are lovers."

I paused and looked up at the moon; even though it was artificially made by him, it felt very real to me. He didn't move or say anything, so I continued.

"What would you do in a raid in an MMORPG? Most people won't solo it, right? Even with the best gear, it would take you a long time to complete. What do most people do in that situation?" I asked, yet he didn't answer. "Party up—go into a raid group and tackle the content together as a team."

"All of us—we're a team, aren't we? …What I'm trying to say is, please rely on us more. I know you're really powerful, but a king needs to rely on his people to thrive, doesn't he?" I told him. "He can't run the kingdom on his own; he needs his subjects and everyone else to keep it functioning."

Moving his head, I forced him to look at me. He had a frown on his face as we looked at each other. Leaning down, I kissed him on the forehead. "Becoming a King—or in your case, an Emperor that will lead everyone down the road of righteousness, right?" I asked and giggled.

He looked like he was going to cry, but he looked a bit relieved too. "A road of righteousness…huh?" he repeated and suddenly got up, surprising me a little. He offered his hand to me, and I took it before being pulled up.

Jin then hugged me quite firmly. It felt like if he let go of me, I would end up disappearing. I hugged him back too, and we stayed like that for a few seconds.

"Thank you…Ingvild. Let's go home," he said before taking a step back.

"Hmm-mmm. You better apologize to them, especially with Akeno and Lavinia; they're worried sick, like I said.'

"I know, I know, I will."

He teleported us back to his—our home—and we went back in. After that, there was a lot of screaming by Akeno and Lavinia.

— ○ ● ○ —

Jin left for the Shinto Pantheon just a day ago. He brought Suzaku, Shigune, and Akeno with him. Over time, it seemed like he was slowly getting better, as he's been laughing, smiling, and acting like his old self. Many of us think this is a good thing, so we've been encouraging it.

The Gremory peerage left earlier, minus Akeno, since they have a Rating Game to prepare for, but many of us already know that they'll win this. However, after Jin got Rias addicted to training, she's been doing it like her life depended on it.

"You know, I've been thinking. We should surprise Jin when he gets back home," Kanami suddenly said as we all ate lunch in the living room.

"…Surprise nya? What kind of surprise?" asked Kuroka. Valerie, who was beside her, wiped some of the crumbs from her mouth, earning her a 'nyanks (thanks)'.

"He's the Oppai Dragon, so obviously everyone here just needs to strip naked," she said, nodding wisely to herself.

Natsume punched Kanami in the shoulder and said, "It's not that simple, you idiot. I really wonder at times if we really are related or not. You used to be so smart—well, academically."

"Ow! I'm still smart! But being that way is so annoying and boring! I'd rather be this!" she said, puffing out her chest.

"Dumb and thick?" asked Natsume, snickering at her older sister.

"Fun and energetic!" corrected Kanami. The two sisters glared at each other before pouncing at one another and fighting on the ground.

Even though it was suggested by Kanami in a rather unusual way, most did want to help Jin, but we were mostly unsure of how to do it.

They kept suggesting ideas, and I looked back at my laptop. Looking at a folder named 'Lyrics', I had around five hundred-word documents already. But if I'm being honest, I think my notebook from back then probably had an extra two hundred or maybe three hundred, so I was still quite behind.

Even then, I believe only around seventy or even eighty of these were usable or coherent enough to make a song out of. My human friends have also been encouraging me to pursue my singing career. Every time we hang out, we eventually end up doing karaoke, and I end up singing for most of it since everyone there loves it.

I've been meaning to bring this up to Jin since I do want to pursue it, but it's not exactly the best time to do that. At the same time, I know he'll say yes to it because he's said yes to everything we've mostly asked. Whether it be some nonsensical thing that Kuroka or Kanami wanted, he'd get it, or snacks for Ophis and Shirone—they ask, he'll get it.

Or they'll just get it themselves using their money, but for the more... stranger thing, they'll definitely need to go through him first.

"Is something wrong, In?" Valerie asked. She had moved over to where I was and peered at my laptop. "New lyrics for a song?"

"…Valerie, I want you to be honest with me; should I become a singer?" I asked her. This took her by surprise, as she stared at me for a few seconds.

She hugged her knees and closed her eyes. When she does that, she usually takes it seriously, so I'll just wait. The rest kept talking about what they'd like to do—Kuroka suggested that we all wear maid outfits, which was both supported and rejected by Grayfia.

"…I think you should. You said that you wanted to be one when you were younger, right? Before you fell asleep, I mean. So... if you pursue it now, I think it would be fine. Everyone here will definitely support your decision, especially Jin. You're also a great singer, so you'll definitely be successful. I also haven't heard of a popular supernatural idol yet either," she explained, grinning at me.

It's reassuring that Valerie and everyone here will support my decision. However, I know some will tell me some of the harsh realities—like me not succeeding, especially in the human world since there are already a lot of amazing singers and I have to stand out from the crowd to join them up there.

"…I'll talk to Jin about it when I'm ready, but before then, I'll go and prepare so he'll have no choice but to say yes," I told her, slowly getting pumped up.

Maybe…I can make a small song for him to help him? I did sing him that little song back then, after Rias and Riser's Rating Game. I'll think about it; I'm not sure yet.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Hehehehehe~"

Akeno was elated—no, she was euphoric. Even though the vast majority of us have rings already, Jin—or Aaron—has recently proposed to her, and she's been on a high since then. Akeno's been spoiling Aaron too, although most of it was on the more lewd side, but he didn't seem to mind.

However, this has also created a strange atmosphere in our home. A few of the women in his harem have started to ask each other, 'When is it my turn?' or something close to that. The topics of proposals, marriage, and children have become quite common.

Add to the fact that we're graduating soon, and the older women in his harem may be looking to settle down or even start a family with him. Grayfia—even if she's not vocal about it—has been staring longingly at him from time to time. I'm sure Aaron has noticed but hasn't said anything yet.

Lavinia—she was looking at Akeno with a lot of jealousy, but at the same time, she and many of us knew that it would only take time until it was our turn. Although for Lavinia it may be a bit of a bigger deal than most since it's pretty obvious to all of us, she's head over heels for Aaron.

Suzaku sometimes has the same look, but when she notices she's doing it, she quickly changes her expression. I think she's the same as Lavinia, but a lot more reserved compared to her. Comparing either of them to each other is strange, to say the least.

"Are you looking forward to yours?" Raiko-san asked me. She recently moved in with us and has quickly gotten used to living here.

"E-eh? U-uhm…" I couldn't help but blush after being asked that. Even though I've been thinking about it like everyone else, being asked the question directly feels strange. "I-I guess as much as the next person…?"

It felt indecisive, but at the same time, some already see themselves as married to him—Ophis, for one, doesn't really understand the concept and basically thinks of herself as already 'married' to Aaron. Kuroka feels the same way but also still wants a wedding.

In her words: 'I mean, we live in the same house nya, we act like a married couple already, and we have wild sex when we want. Aren't we already technically married? A wedding and all that is just to show off, and then the 'document' is just to make things official nya~'

"If you ask me, I want mine to be super romantic," Inaie said, suddenly interrupting us.

Raiko-san giggled. "You're not even in a relationship with him yet, silly."

"I'll skip the dating and move directly into fiancé status," she said, tapping her head. "Thinking ahead of the game."

"That doesn't sound so reasonable," replied Raiko-san.

Inaie smirked. "Fufu, trust me on this, Raiko! I feel like you'll have the same fate in the future!"

Raiko-san didn't respond; she just smiled at Inaie. She hasn't shown any signs of romantic interest in Aaron so far, so that might not happen—but you never know with him and other women. They have a strange relationship with him when you compare them to people his age.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Fuhahaha!" Inaie laughed. Aaron and the others he brought with him came back from the Shinto Pantheon again; an attack happened there, but they stopped it, luckily.

What Inaie said a few months ago came true—Raiko-san skipped dating Aaron and just became engaged to him, and now Inaie is just laughing at her while Raiko-san is completely red in the face.

It felt strange, but I guess she was slowly falling for him in her own way. I'm not around Aaron 100% of the time either, so they may have their moments during them. I have been focusing on my music career, and I've been doing well. I've been doing parodies of songs and uploading them onto Youtube and DeviTube.

The few videos I have there have kind of blown up. The one on Youtube has 2 million views, and on DeviTube it's around 800k, which is still really impressive. I have a lot of positive comments on both and a few hateful ones, but I already expected that, so it didn't bother me that much.

Of course, everyone else knows about it and has congratulated me—especially my friends at school. Some even started joking about becoming my manager. I've also gotten more attention from people. Apart from being known for being part of the Occult Research Club and being close to Aaron, I was mostly invisible, but now...

A bit of trouble arose. It wasn't as bad as the other incidents from before, but if I had to compare, it would be on par with Akeno's stalking from last year. It hasn't been too bad lately, but he has spoken to me a bunch of times and even followed me back here, and it also made him mad since Aaron lives here...

I haven't informed anyone else about this, but Akeno and a few others already suspect something is happening because I've been acting a certain way. Soon I'll need to do something about it because it does get a bit annoying at times, and if I'm being honest, Aaron probably knows, but he has either refused to do anything, is waiting for me to ask for help, or is waiting for me to deal with it myself.

Like always, Aaron was away doing another job, leaving most of us back in Kuoh, although everyone was busy with something, some more than others. I was in the living room again; Inaie, Raiko-san, Kuroka, and a few others were here. As I mentioned earlier, a few of them were teasing Raiko-san because of her engagement with Aaron, but it was all in good fun.

"May I have your attention, everyone? Akeno has asked me to address this," Grayfia said suddenly, and she stared at me.

Uh oh, I don't like that look. Could she be…?

"Akeno has been…keeping an eye on you for the last few weeks, Ingvild. It seems like you have a stalker?" she asked. Once she did, everyone turned to look at me—many were looking at me with concerned expressions.

I sighed and explained what had been happening. Grayfia was the one who brought it up—in terms of hierarchy in the household, she was near the top with Aaron, so I didn't have any other choice but to tell them.

"Stalking!? Let's go break his legs—! Ow!"

As Inaie shouted that, Grayfia, who was near her, grabbed the side of her stomach and pinched it, making her jump.

"We can't be too irrational about this—after last year and Akeno's incident, I will be reporting this to Zeoticus-sama as he's an administrator of the school," she told me. She looked at Inaie after and added, "We won't be 'breaking his legs', but if I find out you did, there will be consequences."

Inaie didn't reply, but instead she pouted with her arms closed. But she sent me a 'sly' wink; however, Grayfia grabbed her head again, squeezing it tightly.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! I was joking!!!" she cried in agony.

It seems like I don't need to worry about it too much. I wonder if it would have gone like this if Akeno had just told Rias or Grayfia? Although she did inform the Occult Research Club, nothing was done about it. Maybe it was a bit more complicated than I was told?

"Thank you." I bowed to them.

"Akeno kept her silence and wanted to deal with it herself. While we were able to minimize the damage done—that boy—Chase is scarred for life and hasn't fully recovered. Although I would say it was his fault, I would say Akeno went a bit too far," said Grayfia. She then got up, told us that she would be informing Zeoticus-san, and left the room.

"Let's—" Inaie got up, but a part of her leg was frozen, making her stop her sentence. "…G-go o-on a walk?"

We laughed at Inaie, confused by her strange fixation on taking revenge. I was mildly inconvenienced by the boy, but I was part of the supernatural, so I never felt threatened. In reality, being in this home was even stranger with all the powerful people in it. A little human that's a bit obsessed with me wasn't that over-the-top.

— ○ ● ○ —

Countless attacks were thrown around the place, each one strong enough to decimate an island; fortunately, there weren't too many injured on our side, as before Aaron fell into his coma, he had left the care of our world to his [Electa] and Shadow Soldiers.

Right now, we of the [DxD] and the DxD Alliance are in a war with the Khaos Order. There were a lot of things that were happening, and Aaron woke up not too long ago but soon vanished since he had to finish stabilizing his body.

Presently, I am in Romania with Valerie and other members of [DxD], and I was left with support along with a few others. I mainly used a small conduit that Aaron gave me before to provide an enchanting effect to my allies using my voice. Apparently, he had thought of it when he was talking to Cúntóir about his [Boosted Gear]'s powers. He wants to use it in the future with me; it left me curious, but...

For now, I was using it this way, and it seemed to be helping, but everything was in our favor. We were winning by a significant margin. However, a tear in the sky appeared, causing everyone to momentarily stop—after a few minutes, pink lazier-line things started flying everywhere, targeting everyone indiscriminately, and it began to... kill them.

"Run! It's going to—!" another member tried to warn us but was quickly stabbed through the stomach, killing them.

I was too shocked to move; everyone around me was quickly targeted, and they began to be killed off one by one. Eventually, someone grabbed my shoulders and pulled me away.

"Ingvild Purple Diva-san, please run!" a vampire said before she too was pierced by the pink line, killing her.

Panick, terror, and uncertainty began to rise from within me; the number of vampires around me, as well as other members of the Khaos Order, were being killed too. Then it happened—a pink line was flying towards me. I quickly flew away using all my power, but it kept up with my speed, which surprised me.

It quickly reached me and was about to hit me when something else slammed against my body, and in turn, they were pierced instead. When I came out of my shock, I saw that it was—

"Valerie?!" I shrieked in bewilderment. She just—

"Didn't Aurelia tell us not to get distracted?" she said before exploding.

Time seemed to slow down as the chaos around me continued. The person I considered my best friend just saved me and ended up being killed because I was distracted. Why was I so useless? I tried to say something but noticed that I had been screaming since she died in front of me.

In a futile attempt, I grabbed any remaining pieces of her and tried to 'assemble' her together. It felt morbid, but I guess the body and mind do strange things when presented with a very unfamiliar situation.

"Va-Valerie…!" I cried, tears streaming down my face. "Why…?"

Looking up at the sky where that tear appeared. Someone with bright pink hair was laughing at everyone. Even at this distance, I could tell who it was—Lapis. One of Nyarlathotep's children, but she felt different, almost like Aaron.

Did she evolve into an Outer God? If so, then we don't stand a chance; even if I flew towards her in my rage-induced state, I would probably die too.

"Where are you…Aaron…?" I muttered.

Despair was the only thing I felt at the time—my teammates, comrades, friends, and best friends were being killed around me. I felt helpless, but as my mind spiraled out of control, something else happened. A familiar aura was covering the entire earth, but—

Before I could finish my own thoughts, I, along with many others, were transported to a different place. I could see hundreds—or maybe even millions—of people here. Many began to ask where we were, but straight in front of us was a screen that showed Aaron fighting Lapis.

He made quick work of her and eventually killed her. Destroying everything—according to Cúntóir—

"He destroyed it all," she said.

"What?" Shiva-sama asked, confused.

"He destroyed the omniverse—or whatever else remained after Lapis' attack. Nothing... remained, only the ever-expanding white void of nothingness," clarified Cúntóir.

Aaron stood there in the void, a lonely and regretful look on his face. But he raised his arm and quickly reversed the damage that was done to everything. Slowly, the dead were brought back to life, and the earth itself was restored.

He's the type to blame himself if something of this scale happens. He's decided to carry the burden of protecting everyone from outside threats—and because of Nyarlathotep's constant 'pranks' at every turn, she's made his life quite frustrating at points.

Once we were all transported back to earth, a familiar person appeared in front of me.

"Valerie!" I yelled and embraced her.

"Um... I thought I died?" she asked, very confused by the situation, but she still hugged me back.

The rest that were around us felt the same; however, some battles continued as others quickly captured, killed, or detained members of the Khaos Order. After they did that, I explained the situation to a few other survivors, and they were quickly relieved.

"I get to live! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooh!" someone screamed, earning some laughter. However, that sentiment was shared by many who died.

"So he's back?" Valerie asked. She also looked very worried.

"Yes, but I don't think he'll be too down—more like, he has no time to be. He has to repair and reconstruct a lot of things. If what Cúntóir said was true, then not just our universe but many others need to be restored," I told her.

"That makes sense. I guess we just need to buckle down and help him when we can, huh?" she said, and I agreed. Hopefully Aaron isn't too bothered by it, but we're here to help him.

— ○ ● ○ —

Graduation is a time when people's lives change, for better or worse. This is where some of us part ways with our friends, and many move away to attend different colleges. But since Kuoh is quite well known for its good college, many stayed here, while others plan on moving away.

Our graduation ceremony had concluded, and I was with my friends that I had made over the single year I was here. We were hugging each other and saying our congratulations or goodbyes since two of them were going to Tokyo.

"You better invite me when you become internationally famous!" one of them said, blowing into a tissue.

"Let's meet up in a year or something; I'm going to miss all of you!" the other said, tears still flowing down her face.

"Mmm!"

After a few more minutes of being emotional with my friends, we ended up making a few jokes and parting on good terms after a group hug. I joined up with everyone else before being pulled over by Valerie and gently thrown towards the others who were graduating with me.

Aaron was standing away from everyone after we started talking about numerous things. He seemed to be holding back while we reminisced about our time here. Eventually Penemue walked over to him, and she said something to him.

He seemed to freeze for a few seconds before tears also started going down his face. There were many of us here, including members of [DxD], some leaders from pantheons, and comrades of different pantheons and factions—all of them took turns teasing Aaron for crying, but she just told them to shut up as he kept crying.

All in all, today was a great day. I had mixed feelings about my own school life before accepting Aaron's invitation just a year ago, but I can say for certain that I chose correctly since I had a lot of fun. Even with all the ups and downs…

I made many new friends both in the human world and the supernatural, I found myself a boyfriend, and I got to pursue my dream of becoming a singer. If I hadn't fallen ill, would I have had this kind of life back then?

100 years ago, the world was much different. Technology wasn't the same as it is now; it was a lot less powerful back then, and, in the future, Aaron said he would help improve it at a rapid pace after his restaurant takes off.

"Time for the afterparty then! Let's goooooo!" Azazel yelled in excitement. Everyone knew why he was excited—he got to drink alcohol. Many laughed at him, but they also shared the sentiment.

Aaron also informed some of us that he'd evolve—later on tonight, it's finally happening...

I wonder how long it will take? Hopefully it'll be quick and won't be long.

— ○ ● ○ —

Before he went to the rooftop to meet with the 'Fated Ones', I stopped him.

"Can…we talk?" I asked.

"Sure thing, Ingvild. What's up?" he asked. His usual attitude was there, and he wasn't acting strangely at all, even though he has no idea how this evolution may work.

"…When you come back…ca-can you retrieve something for me?"

"Retrieve something…?" he repeated, looking confused.

I explained what I wanted him to try to get—the notebook I wrote my lyrics in all those years ago. I had wanted to ask him about it for so long that it's been bothering me. The times I wanted to ask him—it wasn't the right time. It happened when Lavinia nearly died; other times, big events happened in the world, further delaying it.

Today—tonight, I had to say it—if he didn't come back for a long time, which I hope doesn't happen, I wanted to inform him of this.

He suddenly cupped my cheek, confusing me, but I also ended up blushing at the gesture. "I'll make sure to get it, alright? It'll be the first few things I do when I get back, so wait for me, okay?"

"…You better come back soon; otherwise, I'm going to do the same thing Kuroka said," I warned him. Both of us laughed before he leaned over and kissed me.

Maybe I was just like them—I felt anxiety in me. None of us were sure how long this would last. A few minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? I'd like to think I was a weak woman who was overly dependent on him, but I guess we all were.

In one way or another, all of our lives were changed by him. Someone so integral just disappeared. It definitely showed during those few days that he was gone when the war happened. Even if his [Electa] or Shadow Soldiers helped us, something just felt... wrong—no, maybe empty would be a better word for this?

He finally broke our kiss. I tried to make it last for as long as I could, but he probably saw my distress, and he kissed me on the forehead.

"I'll be back; don't worry too much. I'll be faster than last time—I can't afford to be slow anymore," he told me. He grabbed my hands and held them before bumping our noses together.

Finally, he left. I could only watch him go, but I trusted Aaron, so I should wait. No, I'll go and write some music, so when he comes back, I'll have something new for him to listen to. Maybe I can write an entire album! I have that kind of energy right now.

When I went to my room, I opened my laptop, turned it on, and began typing away. Around two minutes later, his presence in our home—in our universe—disappeared again. A few of us may feel a bit uneasy, but overall, we should be fine.

A few hours later, he came back, and we all heaved a sigh of relief. Although he seemed a bit different, overall, he was still the same Aaron we knew. He also brought Azathoth, the previous ruler of the omniverse, his mother, another maid (surprising Grayfia), and Aoife, his lover from his previous life.

However, he shortly went to take a nap since he apparently hadn't slept for 10,000 years.

After he woke up from his nap, he texted me to go to his room, so I did. After knocking, I entered, and I quickly ran over to him and hugged him.

"I wasn't gone for that long, In. But I do have a little gift for you," he said, bringing out a familiar notebook and pencil…!

"W-what? How did you even…?"

"I didn't exactly go to sleep right away; I left an illusion in my place and went to get these things for you. I managed to find these two in good condition; all I needed to do was some minor cleaning—but the rest needed more work, so they'll be done in a few seconds," he explained.

We both heard a ding from somewhere in the room, and he smiled before reaching beside him, tearing a small tear in space, and pulling out other items.

One of them was the bag I used to use for school, a few erasers, more pens and pencils, and finally, a small pendent I had gotten from my mom when I was sixteen. She had gifted it to me after we became well off and didn't struggle anymore.

"Y-you managed to get all of this?" I asked in amazement.

"Yeah, but like I said, some were worse off than others, so I had to restore them using my powers, but the rest just needed some light touch-ups."

Looking at all of it, I felt certain emotions well up, but before I could embrace him again, he gestured to the other necklace I had around my neck. The one he gave me last year.

"I can combine them; do you want to?" he asked.

I didn't need to think about it; I quickly agreed, and he brought up my other necklace to the one around my neck, and they quickly fused together. He explained that they'll still have their previous effects, but they'll now look like this.

Before I could stop myself, I asked, "Can I sleep with you?" Aaron seemed stunned for a second before I realized what I said. "I-I mean it in a non-sexual way! I-I just want to be with you!"

He chuckled and agreed, but he helped me put the things he got for me back into my room. Although I wasn't the only one who slept with him that day (the Fated Ones joined us), I was more than content with that.

If it was possible to fall in love more with someone, then I was definitely one of them. He didn't even ask for anything in return; maybe it's just how Aaron is or he just wanted to do it to make me happy—either way, I just love this man.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Vorteeeeeeeeeeeeex—aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!"

Some strange people kept appearing wherever we went during our graduation trip. But nine times out of ten, Aaron or someone with us gets rid of them expeditiously so we can get back to enjoying our vacation.

"They can't just buzz off, can they?" Aoife asked, frowning at the knocked-out 'villains'.

"They're easy to beat, so don't mind them too much," Aaron told her, patting her head.

Aoife's mood quickly changed, and everyone went on with their day. We walked around as a large group; other times we split into smaller ones that were spread across the place we were visiting, Osaka. For most of the day, I have been watching Aaron from behind. I wanted to go to him and get spoiled a little, but he was preoccupied, so I chose not to.

But he would occasionally speak to others when turning around, and our eyes would meet, and I would avert them. It felt like I was some kind of high school girl flustered at the mere sight of eye contact!

I'll talk to him tonight—that's a promise I'll keep for myself—! As I made that promise to myself, I looked back forward and saw that Aaron was right up to my face; everyone else was gone, and I felt my face heat up.

"Too…close…" I mumbled. He chuckled before pecking me on the lips and stepping back.

"So… what's up? You've been staring at me all day. I thought you were trying to burn a hole through my back," he asked while holding my hand.

"…Well…"

"Ah, I know. We've been away from each other a lot, and now that we're here on a vacation, you wanted some alone time, right? Communication is key, In-In," he said and swung our hands forward.

"I can't just hog you the entire day. There are other people with us, so I didn't want to do that. Your mom, Aoife, and Cindy only recently came back to life, so I wanted you to spend some time with them—I think everyone else agrees with me on this," I told him.

He was correct, though; I wanted to have some alone time with him. Even though we still had time for our trip, I wanted to do things with him. I'm quite sure he did 'it' with Yasaka when we were in Kyoto just the other day.

B-but that's not what I meant. I wanted to go on a date or something, not just have sex! …Who am I even clarifying this to…? Shaking my head, I looked back at Aaron, who seemed to be pondering something.

He then looked around us and then back at me. "Then, do you want to go on a small date? We still have some time before dinner, and we'll still be in Osaka until tomorrow," he suggested.

"Y-yes!" I replied instantly. He ended up chuckling at me before he picked me up in a princess carry and ran away with me. We attracted attention like this, but I didn't care; I wanted to spend time with him since our schedules had been insanely busy lately.

— ○ ● ○ —

We ended up in a strange shop, looking through items. I think this was some kind of second-hand shop; it intrigued me, so we went here. Aaron seemed to be enamored by something in the corner of the shop, so I went over to him.

"Did something pique your interest?" I asked while looking at the thing he was staring at. It was some kind of painting of waves. "Waves? I've seen that a lot on the internet; actually, is it famous?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's called 'Hokusai Under the Wave off Kanagawa'. Also known as 'The Great Wave', from the series 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji' by artist Katsushika Hokusai, and it was dated sometime between 1829-1833."

"…Eh? What's a very famous painting doing here?!" I asked, surprised to see it here.

"It's not the original, but it's a very detailed replica made by a different artist. I'm also surprised to see it in a second-hand shop. I may as well buy it," he said before grabbing it off the shelf. "Found anything you want?"

I shook my head. "No, I saw a few things that were interesting, but I didn't see a point in buying them."

"Hmm…" he hummed and looked at me. "I saw some things that may interest you, unless you already saw them."

"Is it the instruments?" I asked, but he shook his head.

Intrigued by this, I followed him while he let me hold the painting and I looked at it more closely. Pulling my phone out, I compared it to the ones on the internet, and it had an uncanny resemblance.

We arrived at another corner of the store with various bits and bobs, but Aaron pulled something off the shelf and put it in front of me. "This is a—"

"Lyric Notebook. It's quite expensive, and most modern ones are designed in a certain way while some older ones are a bit more unique. That seems to be an older design!" I said, stopping him from explaining.

He looked before taking the painting and giving me the book. For all intents and purposes, lyric notebooks are usually just blank pages like a regular book. However, some have lines of them, some don't; some have chord sheets; others have more unique things in them, like specific lines at the top of the page like 'Song Title:', 'Mood & Theme', 'Key', 'Tempo' and things like that.

Each one is different, depending on who made it. The older ones that I was interested in were literally just blank pages—some have lines on them, some don't; the ones I was specifically looking for were ones without lines.

The one that Aaron found was one without a cover, and it had that 'old book' smell and feel, which I liked. Maybe it was because of when I was born, but it brought me a lot of nostalgia.

"I thought you'd like it since your handwriting is pretty beautiful. I saw one of your test sheets, you know? My handwriting is horrible," he said and laughed.

For some reason, that comment made me blush. People usually don't compliment your handwriting, but I guess he found it pretty? As strange as that sounds…

"I'm guessing you want it?" he asked, and I quickly agreed. "Haha, alright, let's go pay for these then."

When we arrived at the checkout, as expected, Aaron paid for it even after I offered to pay for half. The old man there spoke with us for a bit.

"Fufu, a young couple buying second-hand items over here isn't that rare, but seeing you two buy a painting and a book is rare," he said while scanning them.

"Ah don't be like that, Oji-san; people our age still read and write—we have a lot of artists too, you know?" replied Aaron, making the old man grin.

"Yeah, but it's mostly digital these days, right? Using those darn tablet things, why can't they use the good ol' pencil and paper?" he asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

Aaron laughed at this. "There are various benefits from them, you know? I can list them off if you'd like," he offered.

"Hit me," replied the old man with a raised brow. So he listened to the benefits of drawing on a computer with a tablet, and the old man nodded along, seemingly impressed by it. "Mmm…I guess I can see the benefits of it, especially erasing mistakes with a few presses of buttons—but I still prefer the old methods, you know? To me, it breathes a bit more life."

"I get where you're coming from."

The two of them spoke for a little bit more as I held the new lyric notebooks in one hand and Aaron's hand in the other. After a while, they stopped and said their goodbyes to each other.

"Congrats on graduating, you two! And I can't wait for the wedding, ha-ha-ha-ha!" he shouted as we left.

I felt my face heat up. "Y-you told him about us?"

Aaron had put away the painting he bought—at first, I panicked, but he told me that he just made it seem normal to everyone else, so I shouldn't panic. "Yes, just something close to high school sweethearts that plan on staying together forever," he told me, grinning.

Rolling my eyes, I said, "You're so cheesy sometimes—even if it's true."

Once our little shopping spree was finished, the rest of our time there, minus the events of that night, was relatively peaceful. I think the others saw us as 'having a date' and gave us space, which I'm grateful for.

— ○ ● ○ —

"My baby!" Mom shouted before hugging me.

Aaron had brought me to a hidden cove that I wasn't aware of—in all the years that I lived in this city, the fact that it alluded me and my friends was something I hadn't expected. I was expecting him to join us, but it seems like he's giving us some time together.

"…You were able to wake up and live a fulfilling life so far," she added, stroking my head. "I'm happy that you did. My gamble from back then worked…"

"In! You were a devil!? That's so cool! Who would have thought!?" my friend Kamilla said.

"Right? I always thought you were special, but that was because of your singing and, well, strange habit of always looking out at the ocean and spending a lot of time at the beach. But I guess it all makes sense now, huh?" said Stina, another one of my friends.

"[Sea Serpent of the End], the ability of the Leviathan clan of devils, Ingvild is always around water and spends time at the beach. [Nereid Kyrie], the ability to control dragons using her voice, as well as power others, and its second ability is to control oceans and the sea. You were born for these things, In. It's a bit strange when saying it all out loud," added Lene.

"The makings of a king! Er, queen? Well, whatever it is, she's definitely Aaron's queen, hehe!" said the only male friend in our group, Oddmund.

"We were all worried about you, you know? You suddenly fell asleep and wouldn't wake up, but Miss Iselin said that she knew someone who would be able to make it right—I guess they kept that promise, even if it took 100 years," said Iris.

Mom kept hugging me as my friends kept talking about various things. But the one thing that they said was that Mom never left our home. She remained single and kept waiting for my return—one day, she died all alone in that home.

When I heard that, I teared up. She stayed there until her dying days; she didn't even attempt to find someone else but waited for me. She could have moved on with her life, but she waited.

"Why?" I asked her.

"Because you're my one and only child. A parent is supposed to put their children above themselves—no? That's why... I kept waiting, even with the slimmer of hope that your father gave me, I clung onto it, and they were answered. Even if we're from a different timeline, you're still the same Ingvild I know." She hugged me tighter after saying that.

I guess when your parents love you, they'll do anything in their power to see you well, huh? Is this how Aaron feels about his mom? Or most of us? Doing everything in his power to keep us safe while trying not to be so overbearing?

"Now, enough with emotional things! Tell us more in detail about your life here! Aaron, your boyfriend only told us some things that were relevant in your world, but nothing about your personal life!" Mom suddenly said, looking at me with excitement.

"That's right! I want to hear if you became a singer!" said Iris.

"Are you pregnant yet!?" asked Oddmund.

"Do you live in a mansion?" asked Kamilla.

"Do you tour the world? How many albums do you have if you did become a singer?" asked Stina.

"Is Aaron good in bed?" asked Lene, smirking at me.

With all these questions, I was a bit overwhelmed, and some of them were way too strange! Who asks about someone's bedroom life after meeting them in 100 years!?

"Is he?!" they all asked, even Oddmund, confusing me even more.

When I looked at Mom for help, she simply smiled at me and didn't say anything. Was she also interested!? Hopefully it's about my life and singing and not about my sex life...

"Well…"

— ○ ● ○ —

It took me around thirty minutes to tell them everything that has happened in my life so far, and they had varying reactions. However, I did omit my sex life from them; I can't exactly tell them that Aaron does it to someone on a near-daily basis. I'd also rather not tell them about the things we do since it's pretty embarrassing.

"Ingvild is a bottom, right? She just feels like that," asked Lene.

"Yep~"

Why did all of them agree to that? Also, mom agreed too!? I had no idea what to say to them. I want Aaron's help, but at the same time, it feels like he'll just agree with them! …Even if what they say is true!

"U-um—"

"But you're that famous already, huh? I'd ask for an autograph, but I have nothing on me, and we're probably passing on after this, haha~" Oddmund said and scratched the back of his head.

Everyone agreed, but their faces became somber, and the mood slightly dropped. Everyone began looking around us, unable to say another word.

"Ah, why are we being so down about it?" Oddmund asked, ruffling his own hair. "Didn't we die of natural causes in our own timeline? Hell, I died at 89! I'm surprised that I'm in this spirit body when I was 19! Maybe Aaron did something about that so we could relax around Ingvild, you know? Let's just spend this time with smiles before we get reincarnated somewhere else!"

They were informed about the reincarnation thing? I'm surprised that Aaron told them about that since their memories will be erased once they're reborn in a different world. I guess it's relevant right now since they're speaking to me.

"Oh! What about we tell her about our lives? We did meet up when we had time, right? The last time was when we were around 65 to 68, right? It was to celebrate both Ingvild and Miss Iselin's life!" said Kamilla.

"Good idea! Alrighty, In-In, get ready for a wild ride! You too, Miss Iselin! Since you didn't leave that home of yours too often, we'll tell you all of our adventures!" Iris was quite excited when she said that.

Mom and I look at each other, surprised that they meet up to celebrate our lives every now and then. I wasn't dead, but Mom definitely passed after some time. But knowing this, these guys really were great. I teared up a little before they grabbed me and Mom and forced us to sit down on the sand.

"I'll start first! So, I had to run away from a club after I tried to get together with one of the bouncers—he was not gay," said Oddmund, making us all laugh.

— ○ ● ○ —

It took an hour for all of them to tell their life stories, and it was full of laughter and crying. Everyone lived to around 80+, and after that, they started to slowly die off of old age. The last two that remained were Lene and Kamilla. They tried to meet up but were too weak to do it, so they ended up using something called 'Skype' to talk and reminisce about their past.

"We even thought that you woke up at some point but had amnesia and went on to live a full life by yourself. If this world and ours were anyway the same, then you definitely would have woken up in a few more years. Whoever the 'Aaron' is in our original timeline, I hope he takes care of that Ingvild too," said Lene as she drew circles on the sand.

"Yeah. You're lucky he found you In, if not, who knows what might have happened! But... you have, well, 'forever, right? I hope you live a happy life and have many children! Oh, and you better visit us some day—your boyfriend can restore past memories, right? I'd like to spend a day with you two!" said Oddmund, and the rest agreed.

"Yeah, yeah! I wanna learn some magic, like, I dunno, fire magic or something? To keep myself warm in winters!"

"Hehe, I did that a lot too when I was on my own. It always beat heaters for me—that may be just a personal preference though," said mom.

As we began talking again, something strange occurred. The sea began to emit a strange light, and various small silhouettes of sea creatures began dancing around the cove. Everyone and I were mesmerized by the sight—only one person came to mind when all this happened. Looking in front of me, I saw Aaron walking towards us.

"It's happening—he's going to propose to In-In!" Lene excitedly said.

"I can get to see it, yay~" said Iris, clapping her hands in excitement.

The more they said those things, the more embarrassed I became. I knew it was coming; I knew that he would propose eventually, but the fact that he did it like this and that my mother and friends were present with me was something I didn't anticipate.

He also made this strange phenomenon occur. Various-sized, shining jellyfish were swimming around us, making this entire event seem even more magical.

"Magic sure is something, huh?" mumbled Stina as she reached out to touch one of them. It wrapped itself around her arm. "It feels warm and soothing, almost like I was wrapped in a fluffy, warm blanket."

The rest, minus Mom, did the same thing, and they shared the same sentiment. Aaron eventually arrived in front of me, and everyone else stayed back.

"Mmm…do you want me to be romantic about it or blunt?" he asked. My mom and friend's mood dropped, but I began to laugh uncontrollably at this, and I embraced Aaron instead.

He said a few things, which made me sad. Running away and disappearing won't fix anything, Aaron. He also said it himself: even if he did that back then, Nyarlathotep, Lapis, and Azathoth would find him eventually. So I'm glad he stuck it out in the end.

Reaching over and touching his cheek, I said, "That hasn't changed at all, Aaron. The longer we spent with each other, the more friends and comrades we made, the more I wanted to say it to you again and again. Even now—"

"—I want to live this age and many more with you, Aaron. That won't ever change."

Not a single lie was said. If I could do it all over again, I would. The man I love, the friends and comrades I made, the fans that support me in my career—all of this was possible because of the things that happened in our reality.

If I could redo it all over again, I wouldn't change a single thing—as cruel as it sounds for some. We became who we are because of the challenges we were forced to face; I doubt we would be the same people if any of those changed.

"I see. Then will you marry me?" he asked, blushing.

"Of course you'd be lost without me and everyone else, right?" I asked, giggling at him. After a few seconds, he leaned over and kissed me. Even though we've done it a multitude of times, this one felt different; it made me feel happier.

My mom and friends cheered from behind us before they started saying very strange things that made me blush harder. Aaron suddenly turned me around, and I saw that their bodies had begun to glow.

"You better visit us, alright! We made that promise!" said Lene.

"Yeah! I want to tell you about our new lives! And let's go to some fancy place or something!" shouted Oddmund as he cried.

"Let's make water dragons on the beach! Long live Purple Diva Leviathan!" cheered Stina.

They said those words to me one by one as they faded away. They were smiling and crying the entire time, but I'll definitely keep those promises. I'll see you guys again in the future, and we'll definitely do those things together!

Mom was last, as she came over to me and hugged me. In truth, I couldn't really hear what she was saying anymore. Everything was muddled because in a few seconds she would disappear too. I only had a short time with them all, but now we had to part ways—I didn't want that, but...

Aaron had offered to revive them, but they declined. I tried to convince them earlier, but they declined again. I didn't want to sound spoiled or entitled, so I didn't push it any further, but once it started happening, I started to regret not trying harder.

Mom kissed me on the forehead before she said, "Bye bye." She looked at Aaron and seemed to have mouthed something to him; once that was done, mom finally faded away too. Maybe I had been holding it back, but once she was gone, I started to uncontrollably cry.

I just kept on crying until I felt Aaron embrace me from behind. "Let's go home, In."

"…Mmm. Let's go back to our home…"

— ○ ● ○ —

"Ingvild? Is something wrong? You're crying, you know," said Natsume.

"Eh? Ah…erm…I was just happy for…Tobio-san and Sae-san," I said awkwardly. I had come out of my reminiscing and was faced with a concerned crowd.

Aaron smiled at me before clapping his hands. "The preliminary rounds for the Rating Game World Tournament are ending soon. I hope all of you are ready because the only ones that are advancing to the main stage are those who have enough points."

He looked around the room; everyone's faces had changed into determined ones. "You still have time to apply for some matches, so you better start doing that now. I know some of your teams are very close in points, like many others, so get to it!"

"Oh, we'll definitely make it to the main stage; just wait! I'm getting that wish!" Kanami declared, pointing her finger at Aaron.

"Oh, and what might that be?" he asked.

"It's—ah! You're not going to fool me, mister!" she said and covered her mouth.

A few others declared that they would also make it to the main stage, and our little party continued.

Yes, a life like this is perfect. I'll definitely live a life full of happiness on behalf of my friends, mom, and myself. With friends like this, my life will never become dull.

— ○ ● ○ —