258 Pieces of a Broken Picture (1/2)
Tilly was hugging her legs tight while her face nuzzled her knees when she heard the voice that was a little similar to hers. When she looked up, she was surprised to see a person who kind of resembled her. The only difference was the other woman's hair was jet-black…
… and the other ”her” had flaming black wings.
”I don't want to hear that from someone who looks like me,” Tilly said in a cracked voice. Ever since she found herself in that hot desert with black sand, all she did was sit under a dead tree with dry leaves. The weather was always humid and yet, she didn't dare to take off the black coat that came with the dress that she wore when she ”woke up” in that place. She knew she was already gone because she never felt hunger or sleepiness. ”If you pity me, you should also pity yourself.”
”Don't be like that. It took me so long before I finally found you. Abyss isn't a small place, you know?” the strange woman with black wings said, then she sat on the boulder in front of her. ”My name is Soleil Rosenberg.”
She blinked in surprise. ”Captain Denver said that I was Soleil Rosenberg in my past life.”
”I am you, you are me,” Soleil said between giggles. ”It just so happened that we lived in different times. Do you want to hear my story?”
”No,” she said coldly, her purple eyes blazing with anger. ”I want to return to my old life and have my revenge against the people who ruined my family.”
”Even if you get reborn in the same lifetime that you came from, you still won't retrieve the memories of your life as Soleil Rosenberg since it was your punishment,” her other self said. ”Moreover, even if you remember your previous life as Lady Prescott, you will still forget every single thing that you learned from your life as me. To be precise, all of your memories where you learned that you're the Supreme will be erased. I believe that if that happens, the part of your memory where you found out who the enemies were will also be sealed.”
”That's unfair,” she complained. ”Why am I being punished anyway?”
”I can't tell you that,” her other self said. ”Moreover, I think it will be best for you not to remember your life as Soleil Rosenberg yet. It wasn't just the punishment that sealed your memories, Lady Prescott. The Red Phoenix also locked them up.”
Her brows furrowed in confusion. ”I don't understand…”
”And it's better if you don't,” her other self said, then she changed the topic right away. ”Don't you think it will be useless if you get reincarnated right away?”
She was about to complain when she realized what her other self implied. And yes, the woman succeeded to take her mind off their previous topic. What a cunning lady Soleil Rosenberg was. ”Then, what should I do if I don't get reincarnated ”right away?””
”What?”
”Soleil Rosenberg is naïve and too kind,” the other woman said as if she wasn't talking about her own self. ”While Lady Prescott is a proud but oblivious noblewoman. We need to change, and we can't achieve that if we stay in the same world again and again.”
”Is there another world aside from this world?”
”Yes, of course,” she said in a joyous voice. She even opened her arms wide. ”Our world is just one of the many parallel universes out there, Lady Prescott. But I guess it will be hard for you to comprehend it since your world view is limited.”
”You talk as if you've been to the ”parallel universes” that you're talking about.”
”I have been there,” she said with a smile. ”Well, in my dreams, at least. I've seen other worlds much different than what we have here.”
”Do you think that a detour will benefit me before I return to my real destination?”
”It's really up to you,” her other self said with a shrug. ”But if you ask me, I believe that it's necessary for your growth. There's a drawback though.”
She rolled her eyes when she heard that. ”Is there more disadvantage aside from the fact that I will lose all my memories related to the fact that I was Soleil Rosenberg in the past?”
The other woman nodded and smiled sadly at her. ”You'll be alone. Only your soul can get reincarnated on your own will because you're the Black Phoenix. That means Kiho and Winter can't follow you.”
To be honest, she wanted a life where she could make it up to her husband and son.
But she knew it would be impossible if she got reincarnated as the same proud but naïve noblewoman. Her other self was right: she had to change and learn other useful things in the world that she was raving about.
”What should I do?” she asked determinedly. ”What do I have to do to be reincarnated to the world you're talking about? Can I even do that even if I'm already dead.”
”After you died, they tried to take your heart,” her other self said. ”But your will burned your whole body and exhausted all the flame in you until the heart of the Red Phoenix turned into a cold stone. Nia Moonchester, that dumb wench, thought you were already useless. Thank god Miss Luna was smart enough to steal your body. Thanks to her, the heart safely came back into life. Isn't the heart of the Red Phoenix amazing?”
”I could care less about that,” she said bluntly. ”My flame nor the heart of the Red Phoenix neither helped me in this lifetime. Both were useless.”
”Because that was your punishment,” the other woman said. ”The Red Phoenix will be sad if he heard you say that.”
”I don't care. From now on, I will live for myself and stand on my own feet. I will never put my life on someone else's hands again,” she said, then she stood up when a warm feeling started to envelop her chest. ”Ah, I think I already know how to use my ability to reincarnate.”
”Really?” her other self, Soleil Rosenberg, asked in disbelief. ”What do you think is the way for you to activate your ability to reincarnate?”
”Wrath,” Tilly said in a cold voice, her ”body” temperature increasing as her anger rose up in her chest. ”I have the strong will to live again and burn the Moonchesters to death.”
***
”MY LORD, the Young Master…”
”I know, Sentinel,” Wixx said without turning to his spirit guardian. He just sat on the floor while leaning against the stupid statue of his other form, the Red Phoenix. ”I also felt it.” By that, he meant the explosion of the Black Flame. ”Winter used the Black Flame and to make it powerful, he used his life force to fuel it.”
”Just like how you taught the Young Master, my lord.”
He glared at Sentinel (who sat beside him) but he couldn't refute his remark.
It was true that he was the one who taught Winter how to use the Black Flame in a way that would kill Aku Moonchester.