บท 187: Christmas Eve - Revival
I walked among the crowd of pedestrians on the festive, Christmas streets of Palisia, alone and unnoticed by the others who I had walked by. The dull day had gone by slowly as I simply roamed the city, watching the residents of the city go on with their lives, celebrating the holiday with close friends and family. It was nice seeing everybody in a happy mood as they forgot their troubles, a rather contagious feeling for most. However, for me, it's rather difficult to deal with as I am alone and unseen by anyone.
The sun had slowly disappeared in the sky, leaving the dark sky overhead and the city to be illuminated by the bright city lights. In the sky, the tall skyscrapers with lights dotting their windows were brightly illuminated in a manner that is unlike the usual dazzling display as the city celebrated the holiday season. The lights that decorated the city's many skyscrapers as accordance to government policies in regards to lighting had sported a festive color scheme, putting on a beautiful lite version of a light show.
Looking up, I puffed out a cloud of warm mist and admired the nighttime sky. It was cloudy overhead, and flakes of snow started elegantly dancing down towards the earth, eliciting gasps from some around me who stopped and held out their hands to catch the beautiful snowflakes. People were excited, it seems, for this Christmas snow as their spirits raised even more. I think that if this snowfall wasn't a light one but a heavy blizzard, these people who aren't home wouldn't be so happy about it. If it did snow heavily, I wouldn't be happy as well as I do not have a residence to seek shelter in. I would rather not fall asleep outside during a blizzard and wake up the next morning being covered in snow.
With a sigh, I continued with my walk through the nighttime city, passing by the lights spilling out the first-floor windows of business spots such as clothing stores and phone carriers and onto the sidewalk where many pedestrians walked. It was a rather busy afternoon as the city appeared even more bustling since many people had opted to come out in search of a good time. But, I suppose I am the oddity as I am alone and lacking in anything that could offer me joy.
What should I do from now on? I asked myself.
I shall forever remain forgotten, unseen by all. If that is the case, then what is the point in my life then? What do I do after I accomplish what I had promised myself I would back in the day, my sole resolve. What would I do and how would I even accomplish this seemingly impossible task now that I am almost invisible to all?
With a depressed sigh, I continued on walking, thinking of returning to my temporary place of residence near the building that I had originally lived in. Since it was still quite early, I decided that I will walk back to Lumina instead of taking the train. I can simply take the pedestrian path across the Holfen Bridge, one that you rarely see people taking the trip across. To be honest, the only people I've seen walking that long bridge are tourists who, I think are scammed by travel sites, to walk across.
"Guess that's the end of my day," I sighed.
With my eyes closed, I slipped my hands into my pant pockets, hoping to provide warmth to the tip of my fingers as I stepped foot on the crosswalk and continued to the otherside of the street. After taking a few steps, I was suddenly stopped by a rather surprising incident.
"Alevian!"
Multiple voices called my name simultaneously, causing me to halt in my steps. I stared at the city street before me with wide eyes of surprise and was reluctant to turn around as my mind continued to process what had just occurred.
I'm...not hearing things, right?
I was scared to turn around, to discover who it was that had called my name. I was afraid that this might actually be my illusion like what had occurred in some situations before where I had thought that someone had called my name only to discover that I was hearing things. It has occurred so often that I am beginning to think that turning around is simply a waste of energy, that it will never become true. However, if there's a possibility, no matter how slim it might be, I guess it won't hurt for me to turn around, right? If it is real, then do I still have the right to come back? Do I still have the right to be revived?
With the black muffler scarf around my neck, providing me with its warmth, it helped provide me with the courage that I had lacked. Maybe this is part of the enchantment that Endirith had gifted me and I believe it is extremely likely to be so. Then, I suppose I must thank her then as she had helped me endure these difficult days.
Holding my breath and with my heart rapidly pounding in my chest, I slowly turned around.
From the crossroads that I had just passed, on the three routes behind me, I saw people who I knew, people who I suppose...I have missed. With large smiles on their somewhat red faces and gasps for air that I suppose was due to some sort of intense physical activity that took place prior to this moment, they greeted me with a warm reception. These...these were the faces that I had known.
"Where've you been?" Loyd asked as the group closed in on me.
Irina brought a hand up and clung onto the sleeve of my coat. "Are you alright?" she asked as she looked up and met my eye with a worried gaze.
"For some reason, I feel like we seemed to have forgotten about you..." Muria said in that familiar and cold voice of hers as she stared at me while having her right hand in a resting stance as it grabbed onto her left arm, crossing it across her chest. On her face, there was a guilty and sorry countenance.
"Wait a minute!" Zaksus exclaimed. "You're...Alevian?"
"You've just remembered?" Loyd chuckled.
"This is so strange!" Zaksus continued in his bewildered state. "What happened? Why did we just forget him?"
Behind Zaksus and Loyd, I saw Noah rushing to catch up to them. On his face, there was a look of surprise, of disbelief. However, I could sense a feeling of relief in his eyes as he saw me, almost as if he was glad that this was happening.
I looked past his ramblings and observed everyone. My face was still emotionless as I was still dazed as to what had just occurred to me. Everything felt too...good to be real. It was as if a...dream of some sort. If it wasn't the warmth of Irina's touch and that soft sensation of my coat sleeve being pulled by Irina, then I would probably think that I was simply hallucinating. But...this isn't a hallucination or a dream of any kind. It's real.
After observing everyone, I looked forward and gazed into the amber eyes of the girl that had died. I observed her with my mouth slightly gaping from a sense of disbelief as I realized that she is...alive. No longer would my mind be plagued by guilt anymore...I am free. I am released from those fetters. That is one source of my joy, but it was simply a minor factor. The major factor is: she's alive.
"Welcome back," she smiled and mouthed silently.
***
[Ralus's Perspective]
I smiled as I stared at the wide monitor, knowing that I had won the bet. This bet, unlike any of the other ones that I had taken part in, was one that I did not know the outcome of. It was a wild act of desperation that I had agreed to, one that could've gone either way. However, at that moment, the only thing I could do was to believe in humanity, to believe in Messiah. Therefore, I went for it. In the end, it would appear that things went in my favor.
"Looks like I've won," I smiled and turned towards God, my creator.
"It sure seems like it," he nodded in an apathetic manner.
"Now do you understand?" I continued. "Humanity isn't something that one could simply reign in and force to become pure. Humans have emotions, have desires. It is that that makes human human. A field of white flowers is no garden at all."
"A field of white flowers is no garden at all..." God leaned back on his seat and muttered. "Did he teach you that?"
"Yes," I nodded. "Messiah did."
"Quite the statement he made," God nodded.
"I suppose you can have a bit more trust in your creations a bit more," I suggested. "I suppose that after such a long period of time and all that unnecessary suffering, that you may somehow change how you view things."
"You're talking about his punishment?" God looked over at me.
"Yes sir," I nodded.
"That's a different story," he said firmly as he looked back to the wide monitor before him.
"It's not," I shook my head. I snuck a glance over at Emilia and then back at my creator. "It's the same. Love is a human emotion, and it is something that us angels, former humans ourselves, would feel. It is what you, the image that we were based on, would feel as well."
"So you're saying that I am defective?" God raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," I nodded, gathering the courage to overstep the boundaries.
"..." God remained silent for a few seconds before he got up from his seat and walked over to Emilia. He raised a hand, resting his fingers in the air a few centimeters from her face and whispered something. "I've lifted the limitations," he turned around and said to me before he walked off and disappeared into his quarters.
"You're not so honest with yourself as well," I smiled and commented, thinking about that gesture that God had just displayed.
With a content smile, I walked up to Emilia, or should I say, Eve as I used to do during our human days. I gazed into her eyes in a happy and joyful manner, feeling extreme felicity on this day that is filled with great bliss. I patiently gazed into her eyes, not blinking, and in return, I received a confused reaction from her.
I guess it'll take some time for her to recover, I thought in my mind.
I was just about to give up when I saw a faint blush on her face as her eyes began to wander. She looked away from my gaze, hoping to escape. That was when I noticed that this was...embarrassment. She was feeling embarrassed by me staring at her. That cute blush on her flustered face was the perfect evidence.
"W-what is it?" she asked, her voice returning somewhat to that lovely voice of Eve that I knew.
"N-nothing," I took a step back and blushed as well, feeling my heart rapidly beat in my chest from this marvelous feeling that I had been devoided of for too long to even remember. "Let's um... revert everything back to normal, yeah?"
Without saying anything, she walked towards the divine terminal and began navigating through the system. I walked up and stood next to her, admiring her face as it was illuminated by the large monitor screen, taking in the fact that it was still slightly red from earlier.
"Let me help you," I smiled.
***
[Alevian's Perspective]
Sometimes, life can be...surprising and unpredictable. No one would've thought that I would've received the Socialization app on my phone, no one would expect me to become acquainted with the divine, and no one would expect that after fading away from everyone's memories that I would be remembered once again. It's just those few things about life that you're never sure of.
I never would've thought that I would be able to step foot back into my house once again and be greeted by Loriana. After taking a warm, soothing bath, the two of us shared a hearty Christmas Eve meal together, and after that had finished, I returned to my own room and laid down on my own bed.
Everything was just I had left it when I surveyed it. Nothing seemed to have changed, and according to Noah, nothing did change. Apparently, they had restored the memories of everyone and made the world as similar to what it was before as possible. Obviously, Luna's disease was no longer present as that had been eradicated in this timeline that my actions had succeeded in creating.
With a content feeling in my chest, I unlocked my phone and looked once more at the picture that we had taken tonight. It was a group photo of us standing by the Helliger River with the Holfen Bridge and its colorful Christmas illuminations in the background. With a soft chuckle, I placed my phone on its charging stand and turned off the lights. Then, I climbed underneath the warm, downy bed sheets of my bed and closed my eyes.
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