PHASE 87 - THE SINS WE HAVE TO PAY

I thought it was all over.

Blood dripped and flowed to Rikkun’s bare abdomen. I can also hear the rippling of the blood that fell to the floor. The windows have been partially sealed by the blood, but they let a speck of the moonlight pass through.

“Tiara… stop…”

My eyes opened wide when I realized the voice of the man I love. I realized that the knife did not tear my chest; it tore my boyfriend’s hand. She caught the edge of the knife with his palm, and now he’s suffering due to the pain I just inflicted.

“...Rik...kun…” My tears continued to flow non-stop. I felt my strength leaving my body as my shoulders went down. I immediately let go of the knife.

Rikkun removed the knife that has been stuck on his bleeding hand, threw it to the floor, and then proceeded to hug me tight. He caressed me with his bloodied and injured hand as if I’m a trembling puppy who is scared of the fireworks.

“This… This is not the way, Tiara. You don’t have to kill yourself.” Rikkun’s comforting whispers was music to my ears.

“But… But…” I stuttered. “I killed a lot of people… Innocent people… I killed my family… I killed my friends… I almost killed you… My existence in this world is extremely dangerous to you and everyone else...”

I can feel a faint smile on Rikkun’s face. There’s no sign of disgust in his actions and words. He dipped his snout to my neck as his hug to me became tighter, never wanting to let go.

“Then that makes us one of the same,” Rikkun said. “Don’t you remember? I am Aeternos. I have killed a lot of innocent people. I will kill a lot more. No matter what the timeline, the blood of the dead will forever be in our hands. That is our sin. But death is not the proper way to atone for it.”

“R...Rikkun…” My jaw trembled as I let out a loud holler. “Rikkun! Rikkun! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Rikkun gently rubbed my head with his other uninjured hand.

He cares a lot. He’s treating me like fragile jewelry that makes his hug the most comfortable protection in the whole world.

With him here, I’ll be safe. As long as we have one another, we are safe.

“I’m sorry too, Tiara. It was my fault too.” Rikkun whispered. “I already had the back then. I saw in my dreams that something will go wrong once you assimilate Necross. But we didn’t have a choice. I can’t afford you singing the again. This is the price to pay to save this universe.”

“Rikkun… you…”

“Yes.” Rikkun abruptly answered.

He pulled his face away and stared at my cursed eyes. His emerald eyes twinkled as if they are amazed at my irises’ beauty. Even though I could see my pitiful disgusting reflection on his eyes, I know that he still loves me no matter what I do.

“I knew that you are the shadow all along. I saw it. I saw everything. I know how it will end, but I did nothing. I… I…” Rikkun’s voice cracked. “... I don’t know what to do.”

The man of my life unleashed tears from his eyes. We’re both crybabies at this point, trying to comfort each other with their own version of sweet words. We are just licking each other’s wounds and pretend that everything will be okay after this.

“,” Rikkun whispered, and his wounded hand was immediately coated with cybernetic gloves. In this way, he can stop the bleeding immediately.

Rikkun made a single laugh, slightly erasing the melancholy we’ve been sharing in this night. She held my shoulders and gently put me to bed, and I did not resist an inch. My body felt so exhausted that the way she puts me to bed makes it easier for me to find comfort. After that, he also laid down and looked into my eyes.

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I’m too embarrassed. I can’t look at him with a straight face anymore. I am so ashamed of myself for doing this to him. I have been so selfish, forcing me to dump all the problems to the man I love. I have given him a lot of trouble.

I closed my eyes but the tears won’t stop.

Rikkun softly grabbed my head and dipped it to his chest. There, I could cry all I want with his beating heart as a guide.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

I repeated and repeated those words, trying to make a delusion that my sins have somehow been forgiven. I can’t do anything about the dead now, now that I have killed them with my hands.

Rikkun stayed silent, but his warm caress of my body became tight. His warmth continued to envelop me until I lost all my energy and went into a shallow sleep that felt like the most peaceful rest I will ever have for the rest of my life.

<<<>>>

“Tiara, my daughter… I’m sorry… I can’t take this anymore…”

Those were the words my mother said before she passed the Evil God Core to me. I can still remember it. I can still remember the sensation of my mother’s lips on my own. Our mouths join together as her tongue pushed the Evil God Core straight to my esophagus. I choked and coughed after that, but all the painful sensations disappeared thereafter.

The Evil God Core has accepted me as the new Brightmore Witch. The Brightmore Witches are the universe’s hope in sealing the evil Gods, using their first-born daughters as their vessels. As long as the Evil God Core remains on the Brightmore Witch’s body, the damage would be minimal.

Sitan. Ishtar. Hera. Izanami. Ahriman. These God and Goddess Cores have a strong concept of evil with them. Cursed Guardians who have possessed them in the past made considerable damage to humanity, so the ancient Gate Guardians decided to seal them off for good. They decided that the purest shrine maiden should take care of these evil things so that the world will be safe.

The first Brightmore Witch, Shirayuki Hikari, took control of these God Cores with her Guardian Ability and seal these evil divine forces within her. With this heavy responsibility, he went off to an isolated village and built a shrine for herself. She knew that she will be cursed, she knew that she will suffer, she knew that her next generations will suffer... but she knew that it is for the greater good.

Soon thereafter, the five evil God Cores assimilated themselves into one evil Quintessence that is able to even disrupt the timelines. The Brightmore Witches now devised a spell to utilize this power, which is now the . This ability was the one that became the subject of abuse due to the Brightmore Witches’ tragic fates.

I don’t know how many times Shirayuki Hikari repeated the timeline for her own ambitions.

I don’t know how many times my mother, Yukiko Hikari repeated the timeline just to make my father stay.

I’m not even counting how many times I’ve used it. Rikkun said it was seven million, so maybe Shirayuki and my mother repeated the same thing too.

But that’s not all.

I am a Brightmore Witch that is the only one of my kind. I am the only one who possessed other evil God and Goddess Core, such as Hel, Cthulhu, Hastur, and Hades. I am not aware of merely possessing it for a short time would corrupt my soul. Some of them are God Fragments from Aether Armor that jumpstarted me to use during our fight with Necross Hades, which I barely touched. I did not know that the evil divinity would taint me this way.

It should’ve been okay with that. I know I can handle that much.

But assimilating Necross, that whole undead cursed planet, is too much for me.

I can’t take this anymore!

<<<>>>

There was a series of thuds. I was awoken by a set of aggressive knocks on the door. When I opened my eyes, I realized that it’s already morning. The alarm clock says that it’s already seven, so I got about three hours of sleep.

“Au…” I cried. My head hurts like hell.

I blinked several times to clear my vision until I realized that Rikkun is no longer here in this bed. The bloodstains on the windows have been wiped, but not spotlessly clean. There’s also a wet mop lying on the floor that has little bloodstain in it.

I can hear a commotion from my doorstep. I think Rikkun already went to accommodate whoever is knocking. I forgot that I was naked during my sleep so I had to put on my pajamas.

As I went out of the room, I smell the aroma of the frying bacon. It seems that Rikkun was cooking when he was disturbed by the knocks.

I went to the living room and saw Rikkun in a Hello Kitty pink apron. He even has his spatula in hand and he seemed to be reading some paper. Curious, I went to my boyfriend and checked on him.

“Hm?” When I peeked behind him, I saw several familiar faces.

“Good timing, Tiara.”

It was Jecchan, and she’s just in front of my room. But she’s not alone. She’s with some Blazing Heart Members Mianette and Heushac, and they were also accompanied by the police who have the sigil of a golden cross on their irises.

There’s something wrong with them. Jecchan, Mianette, and Heushac have this dreadful glare at me. The same is true with the SWAT team with them. It’s like they are looking at a monster that murdered a lot of people.

Rikkun is just there, frozen in place. His eyes are wide and shaking upon reading the paper on his hand. It has a heading of “Warrant of Arrest.”

Jecchan snatched the paper on Rikkun’s hand and presented it in front of my face. With her other hand holding her waist, she aggressively declared the words that I feared to hear.

“Tiara Hikari, you are under arrest for multiple counts of murder.”