Level Up Legacy

Rain could not answer. It was not that she could not think of an answer because of her lack of experience, wisdom, or wit. No answer could ease the pain she saw in his eyes. When she heard his words, she thought that his love was guilt-ridden.

As soon as she saw his eyes slanting upward in the sun and glittering in the day’s last rays, she realized that his love and guilt were separated. His guilt was feeding on his love because he had hurt someone too dear.

“There has to be a way to change that,” Rain heard herself say. Even though she did not like the person he loved because she made him so distant from her, she still found herself desperate to heal his wounds. “You are the creator!”

“I am,” said Arthur with a smile as he turned toward her. “I am the person who can make anything possible, and I made a choice. I erased a timeline to undo her death, even at the cost of her memories of me.”

“You can go and find her, then….”

“I heard from a friend that she remembered,” interrupted Arthur, making Rain stare at him with confusion. “She left me messages in the ruins because she no longer exists in this timeline.”

“Go back in time, then. I know that can be possible using temporal fissures. You can undo what happened,” said Rain with a frown, but she saw Arthur shake his head with resignation.

“If I go back in time, the vessels, my father, and nameless will be there to seize the part they wanted to steal. It was this part that I refused to give that erased the timeline. If I go back in time, it would be the same.”

“…that means…” flinched Rain at the realization.

“If I go back to save her, I might restore the timeline where she dies,” said Arthur with a sad, self-ridiculing laugh. “I thought I would forget, or she would never remember because she died. Instead, I cursed her with a worse fate.”

“…she remembered.”

“And devoted her life to give me something.”

“Runera,” continued Rain while staring downward. “If so, why did you not invade Runera and seize it yourself? Julia warned them and gave them a list of demands.”

“Demands these people will never give,” said Arthur, turning toward her with a knowing smile. “The greedy bastards leading Runera, including the traitor, will never give up what I demanded.”

“That means war is inevitable,” said Rain with a sigh. “Is this what you meant when you said you wanted to regain what you lost?”

“I answered many questions of yours, Sin of Lust,” said Arthur with a smile. “I answered enough for you to tell me everything I want.”

Rain did not answer but just grinned and twirled around. She wore light beige robes with a white shirt underneath. Coupled with her silver hair and tanned skin, she looked beautiful.

“Go ahead!”

“I want to know why someone from Sourna ended up in Ilios and why,” said Arthur. Rain stopped walking and stared into the distance. It so happened that the place she was staring at was where east Sourna was on their continent. “The Sin of Lust dungeon is in East Sourna, right?”

“Sourna is called the land of wine, freedom, and adventure. These three just happen to be the perfect recipe for lust. Thus, when I was born, I was in east Sourna.”

“Born?”

“…I thought you would miss that. I might be the Sin of Lust, but I am not the actual body it had. I was born after the split on Earth. I don’t carry the full memories or strength of the true sin.”

“Are you saying you are the Sin of Lust’s child?”

“That is a bit wrong, too,” said Rain, scratching her head. She pondered for a few seconds as she tried to string the words to explain her situation. “You might not remember this, but the Sin of Lust died in the Battle of Gods.”

“Does that mean you are a fraud?”

“That is rude! I am a proper sin, you know!”

“I defeated two of them so far, so it might be better to avoid admitting that,” said Arthur with a smile. Rain had a pale face as she coughed and looked away. “Continue the story.”

“There is no story. The Sin of Lust died, so new ones will be birthed. As you have figured out, sins resonate with emotions. Cassius appeared here because Ilios is the Land of Warriors, so the Sin of Lust appeared in Sourna.”

“Land of Adventures,” said Arthur with a raised brow. “It sounds less convincing than Ilios, to be honest.”

“Sourna is separated by the Wide Sea, which has become the home of pirates and battleships. It is a part of the Lesser Blood Ocean, filling it with dangerous monsters and hidden islands that appear due to fissures. Lust goes hand-in-hand with danger.”

“There is one more name for Sourna,” blurted Rain. She turned toward Arthur with helplessness. “Nation of Civil Wars.”

“I know that,” said Arthur with a blank expression. “It is said that the last war has been ongoing for three years, and the one before it lasted ten. These wars started countless years ago after a falling out between the rulers of Sourna, where one of them crossed the Wide Sea and started a kingdom there. From then on, the wars continued.”

“That is how it started, but the people are just as eager to land a blow on the opposite side,” said Rain as she walked toward Arthur. She was his height, although he has grown considerably in recent years. “People will fight to survive.”

“How does this answer my question?”

“You wanted my story, and it started there. I had a dream one day where I gave birth to a child that destroyed the Wide Sea that separated the two lands and turned them into one. I love Sourna, Arthur. I loved walking in its streets, listening to the music, where the drunken flirted with the pleasure girls.”

“You want to convince me that a person born out of sin is on a journey to save their nation?” asked Arthur with a frown. The smile on Rain’s face disappeared, and she stared at him with complex emotions.

“We might be born out of sins, but what sins other than forbidden desires?” she asked as she placed her hand on his chest. Her lips curved downward as she lowered her head to his chest. “I have seen countless kids lose their parents and their heads. I might be a sinner, but I can feel the pain, too, right?”

Arthur Silvera did not answer her words. In the end, Rain smiled helplessly and raised her head at him. She stared into his captivating golden eyes and fought the fear in her.

“You can choose to believe me or disbelieve me. The dream I had was after I passed through a massacre. It told me to go east, so I went east. I passed through countless cities and nations until I met Osian.”

“You believed that he was the one?”

“I did, for a while. However, despite being lustful, I never desired him. Osian was too powerful for me, and I lost. He made me form a spiritual contract instead of killing me. He planned to have me sleep with men and give him their powers. I met Averie then, and she helped me forget.”

“Forget what?”

“The terms of the spiritual contract I made with Osian. This is how I ran away and joined her. Spiritual contracts are self-enforced using awareness of a person breaking them. If someone forgets them, he is unbound by the terms. And then, I met you.”

“You met me,” repeated Arthur as he stared at her. “You now think that all that suffering has led you to me, the man in your dream, who would give you a child that will bridge the Wide Sea.”

“I don’t think so, creator, I know it. After witnessing everything that you did, how could I even deny it? You are no longer an outsider to this world but its savior.”

The sky rumbled.

Rain realized she had said something wrong as Arthur’s expression crumbled into a frown. He was not angry at her, but the change in his mood brought a greater change to the weather. The peaceful clouds now rumbled with lightning.

“I have been burdened with that title for the past three years, and it cost me the three before it. I was fifteen when I was chosen to be the savior. I reject that title.”

“You seem to have some hard feelings about the word savior, but what do you think you are doing?” asked Rain as she walked toward him. “Your greatest motivation so far has been to help those in need.”

“It does not matter because I reject the notion. I will choose to be a villain who does what he likes before considering myself a savior.”

“…I understand,” nodded Rain, choosing to let go of it. “I told you my story, so now what?”

“Go to Sourna with me after I reclaim Runera. I want to know more about my father and how he grew up and also fulfill your dream.”

“We are making a baby?” she asked with joy.

“…that will take years to produce any results, even if I wanted that,” said Arthur with a speechless face. The clouds parted as he smiled at her. “I will bridge the sea for you.”