Villain Retirement

Chapter 1193: You're Really Early

"Hey there, friend. You're late."

"Hi. I apologize for being late, Paige."

Riley casually waved back to Paige, and he looked around the garden where he now found himself as he approached her. It didn't really take long for Riley to recognize where he was—he was back in the Outerverse, inside the Black Tower.

"The last time I was here, I spoke with someone called Jennifer," Riley said. "I had the impression you were dead, Paige. When Fate told me that, I truly did not expect that you would be the one waiting for me on the other side of her portal."

"Oh, Jennifer…" Paige softly chuckled, and as he did so, mist suddenly fumed out from the grass beneath her feet. And soon, this mist took the shape of a sofa that looked, literally, heavenly,

"...I created Jennifer, or should I say… the future me created her? It could be quite confusing. Please, Riley. Sit. I… have things to say that are very, very intimate."

Riley looked at her for a moment before nodding and taking a seat on the sofa she had made. And without even any warning, Paige leaped onto the sofa and rested her head on Riley's lap. She grabbed his hand and then placed his arm around her waist.

She then looked at his face and then giggled while snuggling closer to him.

"So…" She whispered, "...Were you happy? Living your two years?"

"I was, and I believe I still am," Riley sighed as he looked at her.

"Hmn. That's good. At least, right?" Paige closed her eyes and smiled, "I'm happy too, Riley. It took a couple of eternities, but I finally know why you and I are here. Why you are the way you are, and why I'm here."

"Oh?"

"There is a portal right now inside your house that only Enel can enter," Paige sighed, "That portal was created by my future self, but not exactly. It's a bit confusing, and I don't know if I can explain it myself, but I simulated that future, and it became real…

…both of them became real."

"You created two futures, Paige?"

"I did, I didn't want to waste time…" Paige giggled, showing her teeth before sighing and shaking her head, "...One future where you exist—which is the portal trying to connect with us. And one future where you did not exist at all."

"Aerith'Ross—"

"Aerith'Ross was a product of an alternate version of the future where you exist—there… are many," Paige closed her eyes again, "I'm… sorry about that. It was a mistake that I didn't anticipate."

"Hmm."

"A-anyway, the future where you didn't exist—it's the future of the dimension you were just in—Wait, I keep saying future, but it's not exactly the future?" Paige seemed to be confusing himself as she narrowed her eyes at Riley, "It's the next universe, is what I mean."

"Okay."

"And do you know what I found in that universe? In the universe where you didn't exist here, in the previous one?"

"I suppose you still found me, Paige?" Riley tilted his head, "The primordials said that I would create the next universe, after all."

"That's just it, Riley…" Paige smiled at him, "The primordials were wrong…

…you weren't there."

"Oh." Riley blinked, "Does that mean that I should not exist at all, Paige?"

"Shh!" Paige placed a finger on Riley's lips, "I'll get to that part in a second, okay? Now, do you know what I found there instead? Do you know the first thing I saw when I simulated the next universe?"

"Hmm?"

"Me. It was me," Paige held her face and expanded her palms while pulling them away, puffing her cheeks before letting out a deep breath of air, "It was me waking up, Riley. The primordials were wrong. I'm the one who will create the universe after this one, not you. Let me show you."

Paige then suddenly pressed a finger on Riley's forehead, and the couch made of mist they were resting on turned into a galactic cloud—and the garden around them shattered away and turned into a new universe.

"That's me," Paige said as she made sure to grab Riley's arm.

Riley turned to look in the direction she was pointing, only to see an orb flying in the expanse of a universe that was devoid of stars. Soon, however, that orb took the shape of a mist—and that mist left behind gases and dust, which soon formed the first star.

And with light and warmth, finally encompassing this empty universe, creatures began to form first. Cosmic creatures, which soon traveled unknowingly across the expanse and leaving behind signs of life.

As for the orb, it was now floating right in front of Riley and Paige, almost as if it could see both of them—and maybe it did, as the orb slowly started to morph and change shape… soon mirroring Paige.

It didn't say anything; it only stared at Paige for a moment and then at Riley. Riley also stared back at it, and it smiled at him before flying away.

Of course, Riley and Paige followed, and they watched as the worlds and stories began to form—and in the blink of an eye, a pulse whispered across the universe, and then… everything just ended.

"Hmm…" Riley narrowed his eyes as he floated at the center of nothing, "...I truly did not exist, Paige. I—"

"Shh." Paige once again placed a finger on Riley before pointing the same finger at nothing. No, it wasn't nothing.

Since there was total darkness, Riley did not realize that everything around him was moving—and he only did when he saw something white floating in the distance.

Him. He saw himself, and he saw him too.

And then, all of a sudden, Riley found himself back on the misty couch and surrounded by Paige's garden, with her still resting on his lap.

"Do you get it now, Riley?" Paige whispered, as if waking Riley up from a deep sleep.

"No."

"You didn't create the universe after this one… you created the universe after—and that is why I am also here. Your birth skipped me. Weird, right?" Paige winced as she sat up from Riley's lap, "This reality, my reality, and yours weren't supposed to even interact. That is why I have the ability to create, and you are inclined to destroy…

…I am trying to create my universe, and you are just trying to get to yours. And all of this started because of Nothing."