Eternal Saṃsāra: The Wanderer of Worlds

[59] The Venerable One’s Princess Problem

Chapter 59: The Venerable One’s Princess Problem

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Humanity was a pitiful race. 

American ecologist Dr Ellis Silver argued that humans may as well not be from Earth at all, originally. They may have arrived separately. Silver offered arguments, based on human physiology, that suggest we may not have evolved alongside other life on Earth – but arrived from elsewhere, brought here by aliens as recently as a few tens of thousands of years ago.

He argued— why is it that most animals, even mammals, can run around the moment they are born, but human babies are helpless for at least half a decade? For the so-called most advanced species of Earth, why do we die if we don't properly cook our food and eat, while most others of the "lesser" species can eat raw?

Those were just a few of his many points that, from a pragmatic view, made sense.

Of course, on this particular earth, where magic existed, humanity was worse than what it would be in a normal world. There were devils, angels, monsters, and many other races who had special abilities that humanity didn't. So naturally, humanity was at a disadvantage. Did that mean the theory was true?

Whatever the truth may have been in my first life, the truth in this world was slightly different. Instead of being abducted from another planet and positioned here by aliens, we were sent down from heaven. Our bodies that were created suitable for the perfect atmosphere in heaven, didn't suit the rough environment of earth.

That was the reason why humanity was as weak and pathetic as they were.

Then how did humanity come as far as it did in my 7th life? How did we conquer half of the universe? After all, in that life, the alien theory was true, though there the primitive humans thought of those aliens as Gods too.

We managed to overcome our weakness because while humanity at its base was weak, we have special bodies that can hold many kinds of enhancement, be it technologically or magically. Enhancements that can redeem our drawbacks of being in this unsuited environment, and since the humanity of that world was created as a higher species from the get-go, we could most easily grow if provided with the right fuel.

It's the same in this world. We were created in a higher dimension, in heaven, we were born better than devils and even angels. We were born to adapt, so learn for ourselves instead of following what's already there. The Biblical God's reasoning behind our kind being greater than others, the Devils and even Lucifer, was just that. So despite being created for heaven, we didn't die outright when we were sent to earth. Our bodies adapted, humanity prevailed, and we became at the top of the food chain despite all the setbacks we had.

So, if we were to redress the genetic faults that make us susceptible to the unsuitable environment, our already present super-fast adaptability would only work better. On top of that, if we happen to learn superpowers, it'd make us unstoppable.

The Psyker Elixir that Ai consumed gave her body a "bug fix" other than giving her a superpower to boot. After waking up today, even without her superpower, she would be bulletproof, and stronger than multiple men together. Even without an ounce of mana in her body, she was physically stronger than an average devil now.

This was humanity, for all who look down on us. The losers would realize our limits that they know are all false. If we prevailed this long even with handicaps, what could we achieve now with extra perks?

Sadly, all of this was pushing me towards the God-Emperor of Mankind route. 

I didn't like that.

* * *

"My Emperor…?"

My eyes shot up and locked at the ceiling as a voice rang in my ear.

I was still in my room, and still alone. Where did that voice come from? 

“...”

Somewhere in the house, the song [Jericho] played with a sweet hum. I'm high, I'm from outer space. I got Milky Way for blood, evolution in my veins…. I'm gone, I've been far away. I'ma lumineer now, makin' moves, startin' waves.

Was the universe against me? Why that particular song? Ugh. No wonder I was just dreaming about… haah, nevermind.

Of course, the name call had come from my head. 'God fucking dammit, am I really hallucinating about her after so much time has passed? Fuck.'

I knew I shouldn't have indulged so much in things from my 7th life. Not only did I use the Crown Icon, but last night I brewed a Psyker Elixir for hours. No wonder those memories are vivid now.

I felt my fingers twitch. Severe withdrawal syndrome hit me like a train. During my 9th life, I used to do… some particular things whenever I remembered too much about my life as the Emperor. To keep these memories ashore, to distract myself, and to even things out I did some heinous stuff.

"No, not here." I got up from the bed with a grumble and went to the washroom.

I took a long cold bath and calmed down a little. 'Good. This is nice.' I have to get used to this. 

There was no running away. Ruby had Cosmic Magic designed after my Emperor powers, and now Ai had… her ability. I let those two have those powers knowing I'll get flashbacks. I can’t just go on a killing spree just because of that.

Memories aren't that hard to deal with… yeah, even if they were 48,000 years’ worth.

I never felt anything near this about my memories of my 9th life, which was the longest of all of my lives. I suppose I knew why; my life as the Venerable One’s was one where I did what the path led me to do, I have no regrets there. It was a long, vacation sort of life where I let loose and… well. It was filled with pleasant memories, even if my victims would disagree, and I enjoyed every second of it.

Unlike the Emperor, the Venerable One never regretted anything, because he never lost anything— he killed millions, and he enjoyed the taste of the blood every time.

If I were to resonate with that mindset now, I would calm down immediately. That power to switch was a sort of coping mechanism. What I was as the Venerable is more influential to me than my Emperor side, but if I switch now when I am already feeling pissed, I’d calm down, but it might not… end well if someone pisses me off again. The Venerable can get pissed with every little thing, after all.

Hah.

Fuck it.

I looked at the mirror. I hope nobody irritates me today.

And so I decided… just as something changed within my eyes. While I looked at the bathroom mirror, the depressed black stars over my eyes blinked out and bright and arrogant white ones replaced them. 

"Depression?" I found myself asking my own reflection. "What a joke."

There. Much better. 

I wouldn’t call myself a total lunatic with ten personalities in his head, but I could be almost diagnosed with a Multiple Personality Disorder; almost – because I am aware that I am all of them. All of me.

Indeed. I am everything. I always am, but sometimes a part of me gets saturated more than others, like how my Emperor side was just until now. I can also choose on my own to focus on a side of mine.

And currently, I was doing just that. I am the Venerable Immortal Over Heavens.

It has been a while since I felt this fine.

* * *

[Third Person Point of View]

Inside the Hoshino household, five people sat around the table and ate. Other than the three family members, there was Tsubasa and Asia on the table.

"Aqua?"

"Mhm?"

Ai called, watching her son with a frown as he Aqua ate breakfast. He looked normal, he was smiling too, but he looked… odd somehow. It was hard for her to explain.

"No, it's nothing," she shook her head. It must be some side effect from her enhanced senses. She had already broken two door handles after waking up, so she supposed her optical powers were reading too much.

"Alright," Her son nodded and returned to eating. 

Ai couldn't help but hesitate, her eyes focused on his smile. It looked odd. How could a smile be so… natural yet unnatural?

She had never seen him like this before, what happened?

….

Ai and Asia stayed at home, while the kids left for school. She said something about enrolling Asia into the school too, and told Tsubasa to ask the teachers about it. After that, the kids got on their way, taking a train and reaching Kuoh High.

"Hey, Onii-Chan?" Ruby leaned ahead as she walked, her hand behind her, as she looked at him. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Why would you ask that?" he tilted his head with a confused smile, and then he blinked and reached out a hand. His hand grabbed her cute little chin, yanking her head up as he looked down at her. "What a naughty child. Don't use your eyes to read the difference in my facial expression. That is almost creepy, I'm proud of you. But no, stop doing this."

"Erm, I…"

When she began to speak, Aqua leaned over and kissed her on her nose, letting go of her as she paused with her eyes wide and face going red. 

"It's fine, I'll ignore it this time." He let go of her, and her voice blasted at his face.

"O-onii-chan! Why would you kiss me on my nose like that?! I almost thought-!"

She began to yell while he laughed, taking her gentle hits that didn't hurt. Tsubasa wore a frown as she stared at his face; she wasn't as good as others at reading faces, but she could read the situation. If two people asked him that, then what was going on really?

The crowd, students mostly, watched the two siblings fight and took pictures to post on their socials. But the Venerable One didn’t care. 

* * *

Shoko has been enjoying school for the past couple of days. It was a new experience for her to actually socialize with people, instead of using a notebook of phone texts.

Needless to say, she was addicted to the feeling. It wasn't a bad addiction either, this wasn't drugs, and she would be able to hear and talk for as long as she'd live. Life was nice.

'It could have been nicer though…' Shoko thought as she sighed and rested her left ear on the desk. She stared at the seat to her right, empty as always. 'He was supposed to be back yesterday, but he's not here yet…'

Did something happen? She had seen the latest episode of LoveMy and he seemed fine there, but anything could happen on his way back. Like a bus accident… 

'Hmm, he'd probably be fine if it's just a bus accident.' From the voices in her Sacred Gear, stored over generations, she knew that supernatural people were physically tough.

"...!" Shoko's head snapped up when she saw a shadow fall over his seat, and she raised her head to find blue eyes looking at her from behind streaks of blonde hair.

"Aqua!" She felt her lips widen, as she jumped and hugged him. "You're back!"

"Yes," he said with less enthusiasm than her, but still more cheerful than his usual tone. "How've you been?"

Shoko found herself flinching. Her Gear said she should step back this instant; that he was dangerous. She knew Sacred Gear – [Echo] – did more than a simple voice scan, and whatever that was, currently it warned her of someone crazy. 

Despite his natural and lighthearted tone, Aqua sounded different from his sad self. How did his voice, which had a general feel the same as always, manage to sound so different on an in-depth scan?

She shoved the Gear's warning away and hugged him tighter, the Gear could go die if it was telling her to flee from him. "Yeah, I've been well. You want to talk about what happened in the past few days? During lunch break?"

"Hm, maybe another time," he ruffled her hair as if she was a little girl. She didn't like that… even if she enjoyed it. It was hard to explain. "Ah right, sorry about this." He said in a blink of realization, just as his voice went back to normal. No, more than normal, the usual sadness underlayer was gone as well. He sounded like any other person, normal and unbothered. 

“Huh?”

"Yeah, I'll be doing a little cloud watching during lunchtime. You should go hang out with Ruby and the others." he replied, even though her curious exclamation wasn’t to address that part.

"..." Shoko frowned. The warnings from her Sacred Gear vanished, and that's what made her more weary. He was tricking the Gear somehow, he hadn't suddenly changed back, no, something was going on with him.

"Alright," she nodded to his suggestions. He took her silence as disappointment for not getting lunch together, while Shoko had a long moment of pondering.

The two friends took their seats and classes began as usual.

* * *

Later that day, during lunch break.

"Ugh," the Devil Princess, Rias Gremory, slapped her forehead and grumbled.

"It's lunch break, president," her Queen, her best friend, Akeno walked beside her and looked at her worriedly. "Quit sulking and let's go grab something to eat. You can't do it on an empty stomach."

"I'm not hungry, Akeno," Rias sighed. "It's not time to feel hunger when I'm about to get married to a trash. My appetite is gone."

"There is still a week left-"

"There's just a week left!" Rias corrected her Queen as she grumbled again. Then she took a breath to calm herself. "Hah, sorry. But you know it will be bad if I end up marrying that scum. He threatened me that apparently, I'm not the only one he'll be 'spreading the legs of', as he worded it, that gross bastard. I don't want you and Koneko to be in that kind of situation, Akeno."

"...Yes, I understand." Akeno had to bite on her lip to hold back a groan. 

She knew she had to appear strong to make Rias feel safer, even if it shook her bones with anger remembering how Riser looked at Koneko. Akeno didn't mind sacrificing her body for her Queen, but she would never let Koneko do such a thing. That girl had seen enough already. 

"...?" Akeno raised her head when she saw the figure of someone sitting afar. Under a cherry blossom tree, he sat alone on a bench and was staring up at the sky. And was he chewing sakura leaves? "Wait. President, isn't that your friend? Aquamarine?"

She had seen his reality show with Rias and even made some comments on Twitter. Though she had never personally met him, only heard tales about him from Rias.

"Ah?!" Rias' face brightened. "Aqua, yeah it is him! He is back. I've been waiting for him."

"Huh?"

"Follow me, you'll know when you hear it." Rias ran towards the young man, who noticed them come, and Akeno might have imagined it, but he seemed to close his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh.

What's up with that guy? Was he bothered seeing them, even though Rias was so excited? Suddenly, Akeno didn't like him.

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