"What? I'm just calling an old hag an old ha—." Eden's words immediately stopped as he felt a slight discomfort in his body, and before he knew it, his vision blurred.
And the next thing he knew, he felt a pair of eyes glaring at him.
...Ahh... Fuck.
But almost instantly, the pair of eyes left him alone, making him sigh in relief.
Slowly, Eden looked around the place, and the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't here with his physical body but also had some form of astral body closely covering his real body, with an extra layer of white shrouding him.
Then Eden slowly looked around the place, only to notice that he was in some kind of ancient forest with towering trees, shrouded by mist, making it hard to look around.
"It's Aether," he mumbled as he touched the mist.
The mist that shrouded the place was not any normal mist; it was 'Aether,' the energy that gods use.
But even then, it was hard to believe that something that gods use as energy was just wandering in this place.
As the branches of the trees adorned with blossoms of every hue, symbolizing the endless cycle of birth, growth, and renewal, Eden slowly understood where this place was.
As he slowly inhaled, a fresh forest breeze filled his lungs as he began to walk forward.
The fresh air of the forest cleaned his mind as he gently looked around.
"It's wonderful," Eden mumbled as he felt that the mana within him was filling at a terrifying speed. "I can probably break to the next level if I stay here for a while."
"Hmm?"
As Eden walked around the place, he heard the voice of the river flowing, and out of curiosity, he started to move towards the sound, the only thing that he could hear in the silent place.
The sound of branches breaking beneath his legs filled the quiet forest as he slowly arrived at the bank of the river.
"Damn, I wish I could bring Nadya to this place. She would surely like it," Eden mumbled as he looked around.
Tremble.
But as if his words had an effect on the place itself, the whole forest trembled, and Eden went on high alert, looking around.
"What was that?" he mumbled, confused, not understanding what it was. Just to be on the safe side, he decided to keep his mouth shut.
'Am I just going to roam around this place?'
Walking along the side of the river, Eden once again wondered why he was here, and to top it off, why he was alone.
"But this sure is a beautiful place. But I wonder where the hell are the spirits when this place is called the spirit realm."
As if they were waiting for his words, a lot of small fairies and pixies soon filled his view.
"What the hell," Eden whispered as a group of fairies roamed around him, looking at him curiously with their eyes filled with innocence.
"Is it him?"
"Maybe he is."
"But why him?"
"I don't know."
The fairies talked among themselves as they moved around Eden, who just looked at them confusingly.
"Ahh, hello," one of the fairies finally came forward as she looked at Eden.
"Hello," Eden returned the greeting as he looked around. "Can you help me? I think I got lost here."
"Hmm, come with us," the fairy said as she started to hover towards a different direction.
"Where are you taking me?" Eden asked as he looked at the fairies.
"To your destination," the fairy replied with a smile as she flew away.
Though Eden felt confused, he still followed the fairies as he walked behind them.
"Why is this place so empty?" Eden asked one of the fairies as he didn't see any creatures aside from them.
"Mother separated them because they were causing trouble," one of the fairies replied, giggling at the thought of all of them being thrown out.
"Is that so?" Eden mumbled as they soon arrived in front of a garden-like place that was filled with radiant energy.
"Welcome to the 'Garden of Eternity'!" one of the fairies said excitedly as she urged him to walk in.
Eden did as they told him, walking inside the garden. As soon as he did, his breath nearly stopped as he looked at the woman standing in the middle of the garden.
For the first time in his life, Eden saw a woman so beautiful that it took his breath away.
She had green hair and green eyes that felt like they contained the world within them.
Her body was so perfect and graceful that Eden felt mesmerized by her beauty.
"Huh?"
As Eden looked at the woman, a sudden ripple formed around him, and before he could react, he stood beside the beautiful woman.
"So," the woman opened her mouth, her voice so sweet that Eden felt his heartbeat increasing, "I am an old hag?"
Gulp.
Eden gulped his saliva as he understood who this woman was.
The Goddess that governs Life and Creation.
"No, you... Look... beautiful," Eden quickly shook his head as he replied.
"Just beautiful?" the woman asked as she stood close to him.
"Most beautiful," Eden corrected his words while nodding his head.
The woman smiled at his words as the trees around them made a bench where she made Eden sit down.
As they both sat down she placed her head on his shoulder not saying or asking anything to him.
She just stayed quite with her eyes closed.
".....Do I know you?" After a while, Eden hesitantly asked as the woman stayed quiet.
"....Do you?" She replied without moving her head.
"Then why are yo—." And before Eden could finish his sentence, his vision blurred as he lost consciousness.
"Why do you have to ask so many questions," the woman mumbled as she gently grabbed Eden's body and placed his head on her lap.
"Haaah.... How long has it been," the woman mumbled as she gently touched Eden's hair. "You look so innocent right now."
"I wish I could just keep you here," she mumbled with a sad smile as she continued patting him. "Away from all the sadness, all the pain... all the sufferings... all the betrayals you will face."
She then silently looked at Eden as she touched his face with her hands.
"But if I do that, you wouldn't be here.... I wouldn't be here," she said as if convincing herself not to do something reckless.
"Haah... You don't know how much I want you to be with me," she closed her eyes as a tear fell from her eye.
She gently opened her eyes as she brought her face closer to Eden's.
In the silence of the garden, her lips gently overlapped Eden's as she poured all her emotions into her kiss.
Her kiss continued for a while before she started to kiss him all over his face, leaving no part of his face untouched.
"Haah.... I love you...." She whispered between her kisses, "I love you...so much."
"I loved you in the past, I love you now, and I will love you in the future....for eternity." With one last kiss, she gently placed his face back on her lap.
She then looked down as Eden's body started to turn translucent.
"Looks like it's time," she mumbled as she overlapped her lips with his before his body started returning back.
"I have waited for too long.... Come back soon.... Neil."
At the woman's last words, Eden's body soon disappeared from the place without any trace.
....
....
....
"Huh?"
A startled voice left Eden's mouth as he opened his eyes and looked around the room, his eyes wandering around the place he was in.
'Emily's room,' Eden thought as he slowly got up from the bed he was laying on.
But his movements halted as he froze, looking down where Emily was.
But what made him freeze was Emily's hand that was touching his..... Manhood.