Rewritten Futures and Forgotten Memories

“Hislim, that is my name.” An exceptionally cold voice emanated from Domu’s lips.

“!!!?” Domu, caught in the throes of confusion, lifted her head in astonishment. The words had undeniably come from her own mouth, yet she felt no sense of being controlled.

Hislim. The name belonged to the sole fallen deity in the unfolding narrative of ‘Tears of the Goddess’.

Once among the most potent divinities in the God Realm, she had, for reasons unknown, succumbed to darkness, transforming into its very embodiment.

This name had brought untold suffering to every player of ‘Tears of the Goddess’ during that era. It was also the only divinity Domu currently possessed, the very force that had reshaped her game character into a female form.

“This is neither a game nor reality,” the indifferent voice spoke again through Domu. “For you, this is the future.”

“Who are you?” Domu questioned. “You say this is the future? But my future is already dead…”

If this was indeed the future, then what had she just witnessed? She was, without a doubt, in what used to be her guild’s stronghold, Unbreakable Fortress – Bakarann.

And this entity, Hislim, how was it speaking through her own body? Was it controlling her through some unknown means? Domu fought to suppress the surging negative emotions in her mind, desperately trying to comprehend her current predicament.

“I am you,” the cold voice resonated from Domu’s mouth once more. “Or, perhaps more accurately, I am no longer you.”

Before Domu could fully grasp the meaning of those words, the detached voice spoke again.

“The future that once was has been rewritten. It was your ignorance and folly that forged me, Hislim, into existence.”

‘The future rewritten…’ Hearing this, Domu felt an even deeper sense of bewilderment.

“Why? If this is a divination of the future, then why can I use my future self’s body?” Domu’s heart brimmed with questions, with so many things she yearned to understand.

“Because I sensed your presence, I granted you control over this body,” Hislim’s voice grew agitated. “I want you to witness firsthand the transgressions you have committed!”

Within Domu’s mind, the negative emotions swelled relentlessly, threatening to burst.

“Why?” Domu asked, her voice strained by the intense anguish in her heart. “What… what exactly have I done? Why do I feel like a crucial part of my memory is missing? What is it, Hislim? Tell me!”

“I can forget… I can choose to forget, but you cannot!” Hislim’s voice, brimming with fury, roared from Domu’s mouth. “You have no right to forget her!”

Domu even tasted a hint of blood in her throat.

“Now, witness with your own eyes the state of this wretched world, a world wrought by your own actions.” Hislim’s voice reverted to its detached coldness.

Domu then felt her control over her body vanish, leaving her to watch helplessly as her form rose from the throne and strode out of the grand hall.

Stepping outside, Domu found herself standing in a vast square—the familiar training grounds of Unbreakable Fortress – Bakarann.

A burning sensation spread across her back, accompanied by the rustle of feathers. Three pairs of silver wings unfurled behind her, beating with a soft whoosh against the air.

As she ascended higher and higher above the training grounds, Domu realized she was airborne.

Now in control of her body while soaring through the sky, Domu looked up. The heavens above glowed with an eerie blood-red hue, and the air was thick with an unshakeable scent of gore.

Guiding her wings, Domu circled Unbreakable Fortress – Bakarann, heading towards the source of the overwhelming stench of blood.

Along the way, Domu saw no living soul. The few small villages she passed lay utterly devastated, their houses collapsed, their ground fractured.

It was as if a powerful, destructive magic had swept through them.

Passing an unnamed town, Domu observed that its walls had crumbled entirely. Once magnificent and towering structures were now mere rubble, and the streets were littered with severed limbs, pools of blood, and the corpses of creatures Domu had never seen before.

Fighting back a wave of nausea, Domu finally arrived at the place reeking of intense blood.

It was… yes, a blood pool, easily a hundred meters in diameter.

Countless bones and flags of various colors, each representing the dignity of a kingdom, floated upon the surface of the blood pool.

In its very center, a wooden plank drifted, upon which a neat arrangement of volleyball-sized, multi-colored objects lay. From her distance, Domu couldn’t quite make them out clearly.

Domu maneuvered her wings, drawing closer to the blood pool. Finally, she discerned the multi-colored objects on the plank: they were heads.

“…” Had she been in her own body, Domu knew she would have surely vomited at the sight.

Yet, within Hislim’s form, the overwhelming negative emotions in her mind suppressed any other feelings of discomfort, leaving her with only a faint disgust.

Brilliant golden-yellow, sky-like ice-blue, fiery crimson, pink, silver, green, black, white… Some of these heads were putrefied beyond recognition, while others remained eerily intact.

All belonged to people Domu had never seen before.

White hair… So familiar… Domu spotted an incredibly familiar… head, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Na’er… This is Na’er… Hislim… Why… Did you do all of this? Why even Na’er…” Domu clenched her fists, desperately clinging to her sanity to prevent it from shattering, and loudly questioned the demon.

“Domu, to be precise, we did this,” Hislim’s voice remained utterly devoid of emotion, still cold and detached.

“No… Hislim,” Domu retorted, her brows furrowed. She forced herself to speak in the coldest tone she could muster. “I would never harm my family or my companions. I am not you, and you are not me.”

“Then come and stop me!” Hislim suddenly shrieked, as if on the verge of an emotional collapse. “Protect her! Don’t let anyone hurt her! Stop me! Come and stop me!”

“Who is she?” With Hislim’s sudden emotional breakdown, Domu could no longer suppress her own surging negative emotions, yet she still managed to ask with her last shred of reason.

“I don’t know… I don’t know who she is, but you should know!” Hislim’s voice escalated. “Domu, you must protect her! Otherwise… I will kill you! Even if it means destroying this entire world, I will kill you!!”

By this point, Domu could no longer hear Hislim’s furious roar. The consciousness that was Domu, residing within Hislim’s body, slowly began to fade.

****

In Rainbow Plaza, at the heart of Morgan City, the sky had darkened, yet the excited crowds still reveled in a sea of merriment.

Within a small tent in Rainbow Plaza, both the mysterious Witch and Soronna slowly regained consciousness.

The Witch’s hood had fallen, revealing a youthful, beautiful face. She possessed a head of light purple curly hair, and a red, eye-like mark was imprinted on her brow.

Around her neck rested a delicate collar.

The Witch watched Dove and Domu, their foreheads pressed together and eyes tightly shut, with an expression of sheer terror. She was half-sprawled on the ground, her chest heaving with heavy breaths, as if she had just endured a truly horrifying nightmare.

Soronna, too, gazed at Dove and Domu with a complex mixture of emotions. She gently raised an arm as if to touch Domu, but her hand retracted halfway, pulling back to her chest, as if gripped by fear.

“Domu… Domu? Dove? Are you alright?” After a moment of hesitation, Soronna softly called out their names, attempting to rouse them.

“Dove is fine, Sister Soronna… Dove is just a little tired… She might need to rest for a while… Mama will wake up soon, please tell Mama not to worry about Dove…” Hearing Soronna’s call, Dove propped up her small body with her hands to keep from collapsing, speaking with exhaustion.

Upon seeing Dove’s state, Soronna quickly stepped forward and gently scooped her into her arms. Dove offered a faint smile to Soronna from her embrace, then closed her eyes and swiftly drifted into sleep.

Soronna stood beside Domu, cradling Dove, her gaze fixed on Domu’s still-closed eyes. She found herself at a loss for words to describe her current emotions.

Two futures… Just moments ago, Soronna had witnessed two distinct futures for herself and Domu. Though she couldn’t fathom why there were two entirely different, yet somewhat similar, paths ahead, she mused that perhaps… it was because of Dove.

Soronna glanced at Dove’s sleeping face in her arms, then shifted her attention back to Domu.

‘If one could foresee their inevitable future, that certainty would undoubtedly alter them.’

‘A beautiful future might tempt a diligent person into complacency, knowing their success was assured.’

‘Conversely, if one knew only a future of ruin, how would they then live their remaining days?’

‘This was a profound paradox, one that even Soronna’s sharp mind struggled to unravel.’

‘Perhaps humanity’s yearning for the future was misguided from the start. Perhaps she should never have brought Domu into this room.’

‘Soronna pressed her face close to Domu’s, her eyes fixed on Domu’s closed lids, thinking with a pang of regret.’

“Soronna… you’re too close to me… This makes me a little uncomfortable.” Domu suddenly opened her eyes, looking at the head so near her own, slightly surprised, then spoke with a touch of shyness.

Soronna was startled by Domu’s sudden awakening and took a step back, still holding Dove.

“Domu… you’re finally awake! I was worried you’d fallen asleep like Dove, and then I’d have to figure out how to carry both of you back to the inn.” Soronna adjusted her mood, joking as she watched Domu looking at her with curious eyes.

“Dove… Yes… The ‘she’ Hislim spoke of, it was Dove… Why did I forget…” Hearing Dove’s name, Domu seemed to suddenly understand something, muttering to herself.

“Domu? Are you alright?” Soronna asked, concerned, as she watched Domu talking to herself.

“Of course, I’m fine,” Domu replied, standing up from the chair. She gently closed her eyes, composing herself, then opened them to look at Dove in Soronna’s arms.

She softly stroked Dove’s soft hair, speaking with a hint of embarrassment. “I’m just a little tired.”

“By the way, where did that mysterious lady go? She’s gone?” Domu looked around, noticing that the mysterious Witch, who had been sitting opposite her, seemed to have vanished.

The room was also in disarray, with many books having fallen from the shelves onto the floor.

“Cough…” A light cough drew both Domu’s and Soronna’s attention.

“I… I’m so sorry!” Domu finally noticed the Witch lying on the ground, seemingly having twisted her ankle and unable to stand.

She quickly went to help the Witch up, settling her onto a chair. Soronna, holding Dove with one arm, used a high-level healing spell on the Witch with her free hand.

‘The Witch is actually so young,’ Domu thought. ‘Her purple hair is quite lovely, and that… hmm… collar? It looks familiar…’

Domu placed the Witch on the seat and couldn’t help but steal a few more glances. Her face had been hidden by the hood before, so Domu had been quite curious about her appearance, and that collar felt strangely familiar.

The Witch seemed somewhat shy under Domu’s gaze, quickly pulling her hood back over her head.

“Domu… staring at a lady like that is very impolite,” Soronna said, a touch of jealousy in her voice, seeing Domu’s persistent curious gaze at the Witch’s neck.

“I… I was just curious about that…” Domu tried to explain that she was genuinely only curious about the collar on the Witch’s neck, feeling as though she had seen it somewhere before.

“We are truly sorry, madam~ We didn’t mean to make your room such a mess. How many Iss coins should we pay for compensation?” Soronna interrupted Domu’s explanation, speaking to the Witch with a contrite expression.

“It’s quite alright. Restoring this place only requires a simple spatial magic, so no compensation is necessary,” the Witch said in a slow, mysterious voice, though it now sounded somewhat flustered. “And to be able to divine for two lovely ladies is fate’s arrangement, despite a few minor incidents.”

“Incidents? Soronna, what incidents happened?” Domu, unaware of what had occurred, asked Soronna curiously.

“It’s nothing, Domu… Madam, are you truly sure you don’t need compensation? We really…” Soronna quietly brushed off Domu’s question, maintaining her apologetic demeanor towards the Witch.

“Let’s conclude today here. My body is still a bit unwell, so I won’t see you out personally,” the Witch said softly in her mysterious voice, then picked up a fallen book from the floor and slowly began to flip through it.

Neither Domu nor Soronna saw the Witch, her face obscured by her hood, watching Dove in Soronna’s arms with eyes full of confusion.

Emerging from the Witch’s magic tent, both Soronna and Domu still felt a sense of disbelief about what had just transpired.

‘The future… truly incredible…’

“Soronna, I feel like this moment is strangely familiar,” Domu said happily, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Soronna, who cradled a sleeping Dove on the path back to the inn. It felt as if they had returned to that first night in Morgan City.

“Mm~ Yes, it does,” Soronna responded with a smile.

“Domu… do you think we’ll always be together?” After a moment of silence, Soronna asked softly.

“Of course.” Domu nodded, stating it as a matter of fact.

In that moment, Domu’s thoughts were fixed on one thing: she would absolutely not allow the future she had witnessed to come to pass. She would not let anyone harm either Soronna or Dove.

The two young women walked slowly along the path, each pondering the day’s events, yet, with an unspoken understanding, neither asked about the future the other had seen.