Bab 22: Projecting The Memory

MSG – Volume 1 – Chapter 22

"We have been through this a number of times now but as always, I will ask… Are you sure? And are you ready?" Astraea asked him.

"You know that I do not have much of a choice." As he answered, he glanced at the male twin. "It would only serve as gasoline to stroke the flames in some people's hearts."

The goddess did not even have to look back to know who he was looking at or referring to.

Nikolaos frowned slightly but opted not to verbally react. He understood that Solon's words were not wrong.

"Alright then." She raised her right hand brought it towards Solon's forehead, placing her right index finger on his forehead. "Let's get started. Remember, you can lock out what frames you do not want me to have access to."

"I know." He said, closing his eyes as he accepted her actions.

Astraea's expression became slightly focused as she shifted a fraction of her consciousness into his mind.

Solon shuddered slightly.

A/N: If you are eating, I recommend either finishing or pausing before continuing to read this chapter. A few lines may be a bit… just not for those that are easily grossed out.

What do you figure it feels like to have a worm crawling under your skin?

Yeah, not nice. I know.

Then now, how about making it so that it isn't only one worm but an innumerable amount of them, slithering through every nook and cranny of your insides?

Worse? I know.

Finally, make it so it is not happening with your physically body but your very being… your memory… your consciousness.

The worst? Should be.

That is what Solon experienced as Astraea sifted through his available memories.

This time, he only allowed her to check what he witnessed when he sifted through Cyanea and Nikolaos' buddy's memories of that day.

They had experimented with it before and it was discovered that Astraea could not directly access the old Solon's memories—even if he attempted to let her do so.

She could only experience his memories through our protagonist's own memories of experiencing the memories.

Not sure if that is easily understandable but to put it into perspective… it's like when someone looks at the sky and they see the stars but cannot make out any details.

However, looking through a telescope, you will be able to make out so many details that you would normally not have been able to imagine possible.

Don't know if that makes sense…

Case in point, it did not take long for Astraea to withdraw her index finger from his forehead and sigh audibly before turning to look at the incubus.

Not only Astraea, the vampire and the not-so-normal human both turned to observe Nikolaos' expressions.

Gritting his teeth, the incubus huffed and said; "Play it."

Astraea shrugged her shoulders, and raised her right hand into the air above her head.

Again, like with the time she read his memories or performed any other supernatural feat, there seemed to be no magic used.

The ambient mana was completely unaffected but no one reacted to it as it was something they had gotten used to, attributing it to her nature as a divinity since even demigods still used mana.

A rectangular screen appeared in the air and scenes started to play.

The speed was like when fast-forwarding a movie with a multiplier higher than what normal people would be able to keep up with.

In a matter of minutes, the entirety of the events of that day had been breezed through, leaving the entire room in pin drop silence.

Both of the twins had been heavily impacted by the revelation.

Well, for Cyanea, it was not much of a revelation as she already knew the truth but witnessing the Solon that the pair had looked up to lying with no remorse… she just shut her eyes and regulated her breathing.

Nikolaos on the other hand had an exaggerated reaction.

His body trembled, his fists clenched so tightly the color of his knuckles changed and it was surprising that blood had not been drawn by his claws.

With an agitated light in his eyes, he roared; "Again. Play it again!"

Astraea did not take his discourteous tone to heart. She was not like those pompous and prideful divinities that betrayed her and her lover, who had loved them.

She understood, at least to some extent, what kind of emotions and thoughts were snaking around the labyrinths in the mind of one of her newest subordinates.

Wordlessly, she laid back on the bed, resting her head in Solon's lap and closed her eyes while she allowed the 'video' to start from the beginning with a slower speed this time—that was still beyond the comprehension capabilities of normal humans.

Soon, the video had reached its end, again.

Solon did not bother paying the incubus any more mind as he kept on stroking the goddess' hair, which had an inhuman texture by the way,

The sensation he was receiving was indescribable.

This scene only helped to stab more needles into the vampire's heart.

Not being able to handle the weight of the revelation from the memory, witnessing the intimate situation between the man she had come to love, and the situation of her younger brother, she simply conjured a portal and jumped into it.

"Again!"

"Play it again!"

Solon could only sigh as he watched the siblings bear the weight of the revelations.

What could he say?

They wanted to see the memory and he gave them what they wanted. So, it was no fault of his.

It was up to them to process everything and decide what to do afterwards.

"You put up the sound barrier, right?" Solon asked.

"But of course." The goddess replied, opening her eyes slightly. "I even put the entire mansion in stasis."

Stasis: Basically, Astraea froze everything and everyone in the mansion, except his room, and although it is not the same as stopping time, it is not much different.

The living things would lose consciousness while maintaining the exact same position for the duration of the time, and the non-living things were forcefully halted—like the stew being prepared in the kitchen would cease to boil for the duration that her ability was in effect, all the colliding molecules responsible for the boiling phenomenon temporarily stop moving without actually losing any heat energy,

"Oh… that's good." Solon simply continued to read while stroking the goddess' hair, ignoring the incubus who eventually had his fill before roaring out in anger and returning to the Demon Realm like his elder sister had done.

"Are you not following after them?" he asked about an hour after Nikolaos' departure.

"About another hour more." She said, urging him to continue to stroke her hair for that long.

"…Fine, another half hour. Nothing more."

"Mm."

komentar 0 komentar

Pilih

KIRIM HADIAH

next chapter

Load failed, please RETRY