Chapter 47 - Birthday Gift – Part 8

Plymouth, UK – Earth:

In the large state near the sea and on top of a hill, Nazar’s family lived here.

In their dining room, Nazar’s mother - Aya, father - James, brother - Aeron, and sister - Emma were sitting down, eating.

This room was a little smaller than the living room and it was connected with the kitchen. There was no wall between the dining room and the kitchen.

“Where is Angela?” Aya asked.

“She is still working at the lab,” Aeron replied tiredly. “I will be going back once I am done with dinner. We are close.”

“What are you working on?”

Hearing Emma’s question, he thought about it.

“You could say we are opening a portal to another dimension.”

Emma’s eyes widened.

“That’s so cool.”

“You find everything cool,” Aeron muttered to himself.

“It isn’t exactly a portal. You are opening a doorway through the quantum realm to a place far more dangerous than you can imagine.”

At that moment, Nazar had teleported into the dining room.

They all looked to the corner of the room with a scared look on their faces.

“Jesus Christ, Nazar,” Emma said out loud. “Can you not do that again?”

“I definitely will.”

“Ugh.”

Aeron was a little annoyed with Nazar’s assessment, but he was curious as to why Nazar thought like that.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Reading those energies… If you do end up in the quantum realm, you will be stuck there. Change the calculations lightly and you will end up in Universe-2. So, do that instead.”

“Again, what do you mean?”

(I can’t tell you that it’s where I have hidden my omnipotent energy and that woman who is after it… If she finds out there… I don’t know what she will do.) Nazar thought to himself.

“The quantum realm is a little unstable these days. Try another dimension or universe.”

“Unstable?”

Nazar knew that Aeron will be a little curious about that. So, he had already planned that he will not explain it.

“Or if you change the numbers just slightly, you will end up in Dimensional Sphere. It’s a round and beautiful dimension. It’s not exactly a dimension in the traditional sense… but it’s something similar.”

“Shit,” Aeron muttered.

Nazar faced the wall as he continued.

“Change the number just slightly and you could open a doorway through the time-space continuum. Of course, with a small miscalculation, you could end up in the fourth dimensional plane of existence.”

Nazar touched the wall.

“DA12009.”*

Saying that the wall changed.

It slowly opened up and revealed a chip.

Nazar picked it up and the wall went back to normal.

Everyone exchanged confused glances. They had no idea something like this was possible.

“Also, make sure to stay away from the upper or lower dimension. Enter it, and you will die. Like forever. No afterlife either”

“I see…”

Aeron was a little annoyed and angry with how much Nazar knew but even then, he was thankful in away.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. You can always run your numbers with me. I am not going to help you directly but I could help you not end up in the wrong dimension.”

Nazar looked at the chip.

“Hey, Nazar…”

Hearing his mother’s voice, Nazar looked at her.

“Sup?”

“We…”

Uncomfortably, she looked at her husband, James.

“All of us remember.”

Nazar was not surprised at all.

“You too, Aeron?”

He replied with by nodding.

“I see…”

He looked at the chip once more.

“What are you going to do about them?”

“About what, dad?”

“About our memories, I mean?”

Nazar thought about it.

Aya, Nazar’s mother stood up.

“I just want to say…”

“No need for it, mom. Let’s leave what’s in the past, in the past.”

Nazar smiled.

“I can remove it from your minds if you want, but if you want to keep it, I don’t have a problem with it.”

He went closer to the table.

“However, I don’t want to see you beating yourself over it. None of you was in the right mind.”

“I see…”

Seeing the mood becoming gloomy, Aeron stood up and left the room. He couldn’t enjoy his dinner the same.

Nazar leaned forward and picked up a glass of water.

“Anyway, sorry for scaring you earlier. I didn’t think you guys would be eating dinner late.”

“It’s only 9,” Emma said.

“Isn’t 9 kind of late for dinner?”

“What time do you have dinner usually?”

“I don’t have dinner most of the time. Or lunch. Or breakfast.”

“Wait, what?”

Nazar looked at his mother who looked a little worried.

“What do you mean you don’t eat most of the time?”

“Uh… I can just recharge my energy…”

“You should be eating properly.”

Nazar averted his gaze slightly.

“Okay?”

“O-okay…”

“Son, you should sit down and have dinner with us.”

Nazar looked down at the table.

“Oh, its roasted chicken!”

He sat at the table immediately.

Emma showed a nostalgic expression as she thought about something similar that happened in the other timeline.

“Do you remember when you were gone for a whole month?”

Nazar knew what she was thinking about.

“And when I came back, you guys had chicken too,” Nazar said.

“But…”

Emma started to look a little sad.

“This… It feels better, you know?”

Her eyes welled up.

Aya, who was standing near Emma, hugged her tightly.

“The usual cry-baby.”

“Shut up!”

Even though she was crying, Nazar smiled a little.

“This world is not flawless but compared to the old one, this one is much better. Though, I do admit that I was still stuck onto the old timeline and chasing against people whom I will never find…”

Nazar leaned back in his chair and stared at the creamy ceiling.

“But even then, the days I spent with all of you, it was much better. So, yeah, this does feel better. In more ways than one.”

Nazar stood up and held out his hand towards Emma.

“I know it will not make a lot of difference… But let me show you something.”

Emma looked at it with teary eyes.

“Do you want to see the world from above?”

Her eyes widened slightly.

“All the way from the top? Above the clouds and the dark sky?”

“…”

“I wanted to show it to you when you were young, Emma.”

Nazar looked at his parents next.

“All of you. I wanted to show how I saw the world. From above. It’s beautiful.”

Emma took his hand.

“But I was scared. I still am. It’s for a different reason but I still am.”

Nazar was scared that if his parents were to find out, they would start experimenting on him again.

“But I am not going to run away from it forever.”

Nazar smiled.

“I remember what you told me the other day…”

Emma said a lot of things to him a few days ago on Chias, so she felt a little guilty.

“I love all of you too. And I am no longer going to put on a mask for any of you. You will see the real me from now.”

All three of them felt the gravity around them weakening.

“Huh?”

“What is…?”

“Is this…?”

“And it starts here,” Nazar said with a wide smile. “For removing the mask, I want to show the world from above. And I will tell you a story.”

An energy field appeared around all three of them.

And then vanished into thin air.

လလလ

On the surface of the moon, five people showed up.

“What?”

Aeron was not sure how he ended up with the other four.

“Welcome to the moon,” Nazar said as he faced his back to the Earth and spread his arms.

Aeron was confused at first, but seeing the Earth from here, he looked at it closely.

“It’s…”

“Beautiful.”

“A long time ago, I was pretty much done with Earth, so I came here. But looking at it from above… From this angel…”

Nazar turned around and faced the blue planet before him.

“It’s beautiful. And I knew that it's something I should protect.”

Nazar held his palm towards the planet.

“I used to hate everything about it… but now… I like this planet.”

The other four people looked at the planet before them in awe.

“When I left Earth in the original timeline, I used to live here. Found out about the secret of the world. I found out that there was a shield surrounding us. I saw aliens too. It was… It was interesting and fun...”

Nazar looked down.

“I would rather not remember some of those edgy days but it was still pretty fun.”

As they were looking, Aya – Nazar’s mother noticed something.

“Wait!”

Nazar turned around.

“How are we breathing here?”

“Ah.”

Nazar smiled.

“It’s a thin barrier that allows you to breathe in the vacuum of space. Basically, it generates its own oxygen and everything else you need for survival.”

“Ah.”

She looked around herself but couldn’t see the barrier.

“Don’t worry, I have it merged with your electromagnetic field.”

“Oh…”

They all looked at the blue planet once more.

“Next time, I will take you all somewhere else. I promise you that.”

“Ooh, can we go to that ocean-like planet? The one where...”

“The one where I went to clear my mind?”

Nazar laughed.

“I remember running away way too often from everyone else. I would like to not remember that part of my life.”

“You don’t do it anymore?”

Nazar shook his head.

“Speaking of old days...”

Nazar tapped his left sleeve twice and a holographic screen appeared before him.

Tapping it a few times, something came into view.

“That’s mine.”

Their eyes widened in surprise.

“That’s...”

“Is that…?”

“A SPACESHIP?!?!?!” Emma shouted out excitedly. “Holy shit!!”

In front of them, above the earth, a spaceship as large as Russia appeared.

It was, however, still hidden from Earth. No matter what they do, they can never find. Unless someone from the inside allows it.

“Of course.”

“What does it do?”

“Waiting just in case of a cataclysm.”

“Huh?”

“I might need it one day. Who knows?”

The spaceship vanished. It became invisible once more.

“I will give you inside tour of it soon. And show you much more of my life.”

လလလ

After a while, they all returned home.

Upon returning, they felt a little dizzy, except for Emma.

“Ah, the barrier does that for the first time since you are not used to it. Of course, it's perfectly fine while it's around you but once you get rid of it, it will make you feel a little dizzy.”

Nazar sat at the table.

“The dizziness is nothing serious. It can be fixed with a glass of water.”

He poured some water from the bottle and handed it to his brother who was standing near him.

“Thanks…”

Emma sat at the table too and continued eating.

“Anyway, Emma, what are you doing here?”

“My uni finished so I came here.”

“Oh.”

“And none of you bothered to tell me that uni finishes early.”

“Yeah…”

Nazar put some roasted chicken on his plate and started eating.

“Studies finish it around April and then you have exams in May. Before June, you are finished completely.”

“I was done by Easter break. Everything was done. And for some reasons, I went back, thinking we had more stuff to do. Sigh. I wasted a whole month doing nothing.”

“Well, my uni always finished in May,” Nazar said as he shrugged.

Aeron, Aya and James looked at them with blank expressions.

“How are you guys so calm?”

“Well, Emma has been to space. A few times.”

Aeron’s eyes widened.

“Wha-wha-what?!?!”

Looking at Emma, Nazar said, “Did you not tell them?”

Emma averted her gaze and looked away.

“Err, no.”

Nazar sighed.

“Oh boy… I have to explain that too?!”

Emma shrugged.

လလလ

It was around 10 PM when Nazar teleported into his own apartment. More specifically, he appeared in his bedroom.

He looked at the chip in his hand.

“Now that I have her original chip, I can start build… Hm?”

Nazar felt a presence in his home.

It was a familiar one.

Walking out of the bedroom and entering the living room, he found a tall and muscular blonde woman standing near the window and looking outside. She was holding a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Aarin?"

"Your kitchen so dirty. Take a few minutes and clean it up, will you?"

"Ah. My bad. I left it like that a few days ago. And I totally forgot about it."

"You need to…"

Aarin looked at him.

"Organise your time better. I know you have a lot of powers, but you need time for other stuff too."

"Yeah, I know…"

Nazar sat down on the sofa.

"So, what brings you here?"

"I heard from Lucifer… Why did you not tell me?"

Nazar leaned back on the sofa and stared at the wall.

"I can't."

"Hm?"

"I want to but I can't. I cannot tell anyone. It's physically impossible for me to tell anyone. Not even Solace."

"I… I don't understand."

"Aarin, did you know I had a girlfriend?"

"Yes. I was the first person you told."

"Was I acting any different?"

"No."

"I see. Interesting."

Nazar leaned forward and looked at Aarin.

"Can you check my emotions for me? I want you to check it. A proper and thorough examination of it. Can you figure out if any of them are manipulated? Especially love?"

"Sure."

Aarin placed the coffee cup on the bookshelf near the TV in the living room and stood before Nazar.

She placed her hand on his face and closed her eyes.

It took her only a few seconds to figure it out.

Nazar was eagerly waiting for her answer. He wanted to know if he really loved Laura. He knows that he does but he still wanted to make sure.

"It is manipulated."

"Shit!"

"But not what you are thinking."

Nazar slowly looked up at her.

"Anger, confusion, fear, anxiety and a few of your negative emotions are being affected. Your emotions such as love are not… Hm?"

Nazar's eyes widened.

His heart skipped a beat in fear.

He could hear his heart rate increase significantly.

"Your love emotion… Its being redirected towards someone else."

"....Huh?"

"You still love Laura. That's your own emotion. But your "love" is also being redirected towards someone else. Someone… Someone…"

Aarin started to feel a little pain in her head.

She found it hard to find this person.

"I… Ngh. I g-g-got it!"

"A-A-Aarin?"

She let out a sigh of relief.

"It's being redirected towards someone called…"

Nazar gulped.

"Rina."

Nazar froze in his place.

His heart stopped beating completely.

(Rina? Why would she do that? I check… She doesn't have powers. So…)

"From what I noticed, someone else is doing this. I don't think this person is the one who is messing with your emotions."

Nazar's heart started beating once more.

Aarin removed her hand from his face.

"So, who is messing with you? Any clues?"

She went back and picked up her cup.

"No. I have been looking for them whenever I have free time but… I have a few guesses."

"Hm?"

"I don’t know, the Goddess? That woman who was messing around with me? I feel like they are the same person as the one Michael mentioned. And that’s my only guess."

“And why do you think so?”

“Let’s see… From what I understand, both basically wants the same thing. Maybe.”

“And they want your power?”

Nazar nodded.

“I see...”

At that moment, a question came to Aarin's mind.

"Who do you think was controlling Lucifer?"

"I don't know. And frankly, I don't care."

Aarin's eyes widened.

"Why?"

"I will let Lucifer deal with it."

"What if they are all connected?"

Nazar leaned forward and rested his chin on the back of his hands.

"Hmm… That is a possibility too. I will let Lucifer deal with it."

"Why not you?"

"I am… I am having trouble with my powers at the moment. I can't use power on that scale for a while. The best I can probably do is destroy a world or a solar system. Or use nigh omnipresence on a solar system level. And that might not be possible in a few days until I fix myself. My powers grow weaker."

"....?"

"It will be fixed soon…hopefully. But until then, I can't do much on that level."

"And how did it happen?"

"Whoever was controlling Lucifer said that they have been preparing an energy poison for me. I have taken out most of it today but it's still circling my body. Weakening me. I have to use Recharge a lot in order to even stay conscious."

"That's…"

Aarin started to feel very worried.

Nazar smiled.

"So, if I need help in the next few days, will you help me out?"

"Sure," Aarin said as she smiled back.

Both of their smiles suddenly vanished once they heard the door of the living door opening.

As the door slowly opened, both Aarin and Nazar looked at one another.

Walking in was Laura.

"Laura?!"

"Laura?!"

Both breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Phew. You scared me."

Laura looked at them in a dazed manner.

So many thoughts went through her mind.

Earlier today, she left as soon as Nazar told her about the princess, so she was having weird thoughts that Nazar had probably already moved on.

She came here to talk to him about something but she was not expecting this sight.

"Nice to meet you, Laura," Aarin said as she smiled. "I am Aarin."

For an angel of emotion and an empath, Aarin did not notice what Laura was truly feeling at this moment.

Her jealousy and anger swelled up in her heart.

"O-oh… I will see you some… other… time…"

She trailed off.

Suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise.

"You are that angel?!?!" Laura blurted out, forgetting the emotions she was feeling a few seconds ago.

"Yes?"

Laura gulped.

She felt a little weak in her knees.

"Laura?"

She was also sweating a lot.

"J-Just give me a minute…" Laura said as she sat on the sofa.

Aarin knew that Laura had remembered. She knew before Nazar so she didn't expect this reaction.

In fact, it's a very logical reaction for humans. But Aarin, who has lived for thousands of years among humans and knew humans very well, had forgotten the basics. She thought Laura would take this very lightly.

"It's kind of confusing… she saw Lucifer yesterday and didn't budge."

Even though Laura met Lucifer very early in the day today, deep down, she didn't accept that it was Lucifer. She had never personally seen Lucifer so she wasn't sure if it was really him. But she knows Aarin, so it surprised her to see an actual angel before her.

"It's just… She is an actual angel. You know, those things that work for God? That thing."

"Err, Laura…" Aarin said as she scratched her cheek in an anxious manner. "You know, Nazar is practically…"

Aarin wanted to say 'God' but she glanced over at Nazar and remembered that he doesn't really like being called 'God'.

"A higher being than me, right?"

"Well… It took me a few sleepless nights to get used to what I learnt."

"Oh… Well, my bad?"

Nazar was not sure what else to say.