"We met again at Alice's grave…"
"Oh… I am sorry… I didn't mean to remind you of that—"
"Uh-huh. It's fine. I can't just forget it as if it never happened. It doesn't work that way."
"But that happened in another world! You are in a different world now, and you have already saved everyone and changed their fate! You saved Alice, Rize, Angelica, Rebecca, and me.
Whatever happened in that life shouldn't be your concern anymore! You redeemed yourself, so move on. You can't cling to the past forever!"
Eleanor's words were true, but they didn't seem to have changed Rudy's mind.
"It's different for you all. The people of that world belong to that world, but I am from the other world who is living in this one. It's different for me. I am the same person I was in that world. Nothing has changed. I may have saved everyone, but no one can save me."
"I have been wondering, what if you are not Rudy from the other world? What if you are the Rudy from this world? Don't you ever wonder what happened to the soul of this world's Rudy if you actually transmigrated to this world?" Eleanor asked with a knowing look on her face.
"The soul of this world's Rudy merged with the universe when I transmigrated into his body."
"So you are saying that another Rudy from the third world can transmigrate into your body and kick you out? That doesn't make sense! And how did this world Rudy get his soul again?" she asked with a judging glare in her eyes.
"My soul split into two in 1990 after fighting with Asura."
"So it was your soul, to begin with, am I right?! And it's your body! Right?! So doesn't that mean you are Rudy from this world?!" She shouted at Rudy in frustration.
"..." Rudy was left speechless by the sudden realization.
"This world's Rudy's body and soul belonged to me from the very start. But this body wouldn't be mine if I had not been transmigrated to this world. In fact… this body shouldn't even exist. But it existed even before I transmigrated to this world.
That… doesn't make any sense. I think you are wrong, Eleanor. We are missing something we don't know. And we are talking about time travel and transmigration, which neither has any lore or logic behind it."
"I do. I have an explanation." Eleanor said with a proud look on her face.
"What if you simply gained the memories of that world's Rudy after he died? That would solve all your doubts and answer your questions. No logic or lore needed."
"...that's… possible. And I don't have any previous memory of this world because the kid Rudy did something." Rudy nodded with an impressed look on his face. "Well done, Elena. You just solved the biggest mystery. It wasn't my soul that transmigrated it… it was the memory of that world's Rudy."
"So now you don't have any relation to that world… except for the foreign memories. Stop feeling guilty and blaming yourself for what happened in that world. You are not that guy who was Rudy."
"Well… it doesn't necessarily make me feel happy, but I do feel a bit better knowing I wasn't the one responsible for the tragic fate the girls met in that world. Thanks, Elena. I am truly impressed. I don't think I would have realized that without your help."
"Oh, believe me, after your disappearance in 1990, all I did was find answers to your question. And you are right, the Rudy I watched grow up must have done something with his memories.
Perhaps, he did that so the memories of that world's Rudy could transmigrate? Otherwise, you would have had two different memories from the same timelines," Eleanor shrugged.
"You could be right, but I don't think that was his doing. He was planning something big. Angelica might know it, but I won't get my hopes high. There is a high chance that the kid Rudy expected Angelica to spill the beans.
He was the one who transferred Jessica's memories into Angelica so she could be born again. So he had access to Jessica's memory, and he was in control. He might not have transferred the memory fragments that contained crucial information that could spoil his plan."
"What could he be planning? I don't think it would be something evil, but still… would it not have been better if he had just told you everything?" Eleanor wondered with a curious look on her face.
"It must be something I shouldn't know yet. Something related to the unsolved mysteries, the power of the Lord, and how I gained it. Nyxia might have answers, but I can't track her even though I have her marked."
"Rudy… and the Lord…"
"Rudy and the Lord."
After a brief silence, Eleanor looked into Rudy's eyes and uttered, "Since I have lessened your guilt, I want you to continue your narration. What happened after Rudy met Eleanor at Alice's grave."
"Uhh… let's stop referring to ourselves in the third person even if we are a different version of them. It will make the narration confusing."
"Okay, if you think so."
"So… the news of Alice's suicide had shocked me. Had I paid more attention to her on the night of the 'get together'... had I taken her seriously when she confessed to me that night… maybe she would have been alive.
I blamed myself for her suicide. I was already going through a lot during that time. When you had called me a few months ago, Elise was pregnant at that time— although she wasn't aware of it.
She had decided to take a break from the university after the semester exams, but she had a miscarriage a week before that. And then she had an infection that spread wilder than a wildfire.
The doctors had told me that if Elise hadn't had a miscarriage and given birth, then there was a high chance that they both would have died. I was happy and sad at that news… more of the sad side… tough.
The infection also wasn't something that could be cured. They had managed to stop it from spreading but couldn't treat the already infected parts. I was so depressed that I didn't even study for the exam.
And then the news of Alice's suicide. I was… at my lowest point of life at that time…"
