“Clove, why are you doing this? What is your purpose? Whatever it is, we can talk it over among each other and solve it.”

Aurora hoped that Clove at least heard what she had to say and would take the time to think about it. But all Aurora received in return for her efforts was a blank stare.

Clove’s face said that she did not want to talk about anything right now, nor did she have the patience to sit around and listen to Aurora.

There was an anxiety in her body language that betrayed her intentions of stalling Aurora.

“Clove, step aside. You and I do not need to butt heads here. Even if you did something wrong, as long as you do not stop me I won’t blame you for it.”

Having spent so much time with Clove before and knowing how Clove thought and acted, there was no way Aurora could ever blame Clove for her choices. Even if Clove intended to hurt everyone, Aurora was too biased to blame her.

But that did not mean that Aurora’s trust was unconditional. And whatever Aurora had with Clove was in the past.

She had not realized when but Aurora’s feelings for Clove had changed a lot. Time was the best medicine when it came to healing certain wounds of the heart.

Right now Aurora was sure that she could even face off Clove and restrain her if she needed to.

“Aurora, are you going to face off against me? Won’t you listen to me just this one time and save us both the trouble? I promise that this will be the last time I ask you a favor. Just don’t interfere in what is going on here.”

Aurora would have indulged Clove under any other circumstances but not this one. There was an irritating itch underneath Clove’s skin that alerted her of danger.

She had a feeling that if she did not interfere then something major would happen.

“Clove, I asked you to step aside so why don’t you? Now you really cannot blame me for forcing your hand.”

Aurora’s core was pulsing with magic. It was the second core she had taken inside her body and it made the earth part right between her and Clove.

No matter how fast a human was, they should not have been able to get out unscratched from that attack.

But once the earth settled down, Clove looked as fresh and unhurt as she had before.

“You attacked me? Did you attack me? Why?”

Clove sounded betrayed but Aurora was more cautious of her now. No normal human should even have seen the attack coming.

“Hey Aurora, have I ever been bad to you? Have I ever treated you wrongly in the past or right now? So why? Why are you going against me now.”

There was a boom of air that slammed into Aurora’s side. It slammed into her despite her best efforts to avoid it.

And it was soon followed by another and then another.

No matter how many times Aurora was sure she had dodged those impacts, they still made contact with her.

‘Darn it, I cannot keep trying to dodge. I need to block them and find a way to take the host out.’

Clove had a crazy look on her face as she continued her attack. She did not even look conscious as she continued and Aurora had a feeling that she was being controlled by something right now.

But that something must be really powerful to not even give Aurora any room to breathe. Every pour of Clove’s body was emitting a goddess’s aura.

“Clove, did you take a core inside your body? You need to take it out before it devours you. Your body cannot handle a goddess’s core.”

Aurora was not kidding when she described the burdens of a core. Even her body which was of a goddess found it hard to handle the core sometimes.

“Awww, are you worried about me? You shouldn’t be because we have nothing between us anymore, right? But for what it was worth, I do love you.”

“Clove you-“

If Aurora doubted Clove before, all of it was gone. The only thing that was going through Aurora’s mind was that ‘she remembered.’

Aurora did not know how or why Clove remembered what she should not have. There was no reason for Clove to remember things that had not happened yet but one look was all it took for Aurora to realize that the Clove she was seeing in front of her was the same one she had loved.

“I-how did that happen? You should not have remembered anything.”

Aurora felt it all crashing down around her. Her feelings and her emotions were all too much to handle right now. The scope of what had happened just hit Aurora as well.

“I know this was not supposed to happen but we’re here anyway. So won’t you give me this opportunity to make things right? Hey Aurora, let’s go back to those times before. Let’s resume where we let things off.”

Clove had a hand extended out toward Aurora. It was such a familiar scene that it brought tears to her eyes.

‘Go back to where we let off? Is that even possible?’

If Aurora had been somewhere else or had it been another time, Aurora would not have hesitated in taking that hand. She could still feel the warmth of that hand beneath her even without touching it.

Aurora almost touched that hand before she realized with a jolt what she had been about to do.

‘N-No. all my progress, all my expectations, I cannot let them down. What will happen to all these people I love if I went back to where we left off.’

It was a surprise to see all those familiar faces flash across Aurora’s eyes as she extended her hand to take Clove’s.

There was Natasha, Rita, Astoria, Damina, Alexander, Rex, and even Mei. All these people had managed to change their destiny because Aurora had changed the course of the future.

Stepping back into that fold would mean sacrificing them all.

“No.”

Aurora spoke up but it was a hesitant answer. Even Clove seemed to think that as well because she looked taken aback but not surprised.

“No? Why not?”

Clove spoke like she could not understand why Aurora had declined her offer. And perhaps to her, it was not clear because she had never paid close attention to Aurora before.

They had been in love but that love had never been cultivated, right?

Now that Aurora thought back at it, there was too much they had not done as a couple. And Aurora did not mean like go on dates and stuff.

No. They had never really sat along and taken their feelings out. Aurora had tried but Clove had always been distracted or changed the topic.

Aurora had ignored the nagging feeling that said that Clove was not interested in her. Often, she looked like she was not really seeing Aurora when she looked at her but someone else.

And it had hurt before but now Aurora was more clear-headed.

“I said that I won’t go back to those times. This is a better future for all of us so I want to see it flourish.”

Aurora made the stone wall stand up near her feet. It cut off her visual access to Clove and made it difficult o predict her future moments.

She could feel the air blades circling her body but the earth stopped it from making any direct contact with Aurora’s body.

“I see. So that’s your answer. I wonder why I feel hurt even when I knew this was going to be the outcome. Why did I get my hopes up only to get hurt in the end?”

Clove sounded sad and Aurora did not look up at her. She knew she would find tears in Clove’s eyes and that would break Aurora’s resolve about this entire matter.

She did not want to deal with things like feelings and emotions. They were all but a hassle to deal with.

“It’s alright. Things were bound to end this way. And you are right! We cannot keep on doing this forever or we’ll both burn into ashes in the end. Now, let’s finish what we started a long time ago. Let’s resolve this fight.”

Aurora felt her breath stop as she looked up. Clove had the same face she had that long time ago. Her hand was still trembling with unkept emotions but her face looked determined.

And then that sword came swinging down toward Aurora.

But this time things were going to be different. This time, Aurora was not going to go down that easily and she would prove her existence and how far she was willing to go.

Earth bent to her will, coming up to cover her body and arms. It clashed with the incoming sword and made a crashing sound.

And then the impact knocked both her and Clove back a few inches. The battle had begun at last.