Light of my life

Seth and Leora spent some time simply lying in each other’s arms before the system informed him the others had already left the bath.

Letting Leora know, Seth teleported her to spend some time with the others. Since the Curse Kingdom was going through quite a significant change for the last five years and Leora understood bringing ascended from Endora might make things worse, not to mention the possibility of those ascended falling pray to the curse, she was the only one there for a long time, supporting the new queen she had placed on the throne.

The change was slow with no external help, and she had not returned to Endora in more than three years, so Seth allowed her to reconnect with the others first of all.

Late at night, Seth and Leora returned to her room in the Imperial Quarters.

Now that the time had come, Seth could already feel Leora’s nervousness from the moment their teleportation ended.

Grabbing her soft hand, Seth gave it a gentle kiss. “Don’t be nervous. We’ll take it slow, and I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”

“I trust you. I’ll leave myself in your care.” Leora nodded and pulled onto Seth’s hand, hiding her red face in his chest.

Seth bent his knees, picked Leora up, and carried her toward the bed. Her hair covered her face, and her head was tilted to the side, trying to hide her eyes from Seth’s, but her aura betrayed everything she felt at that moment.

The anxiousness and even hesitation were shining brightly, almost masking the slight trace of passion and desire at the bottom of her soul.

She was scared, the memory of all those years as a sex slave still haunting her even after so long, but Seth didn’t mention it, knowing words won’t erase the shame and pain she had felt. He could only slowly replace all those memories with other ones, full of warmth and love.

Gently laying her body on the bed, Seth looked at her perfect body from above. She didn’t have the amplest chest or behind, but her entire body was like a carefully chiseled sculpture.

Her body ratio was the definition of perfection from his past life. Her pure beauty, with no trace of vulgarity or imperfection, amplified by the holy feeling light energy bestowed upon its hosts, made even Seth reluctant to sully her.

Her clothing was still quite reserved, with a long-sleeved shirt covering everything and a sleeveless jacket paired with a pair of long and saggy pants that seemed to want to deafen the perfection her body screamed.

Throwing his thoughts away, Seth bent forward, moving his hand slowly to clear the silver hair from her face and caressing her rosy cheeks.

Leora’s eyes were closed, and her chest was already heaving up and down, not necessarily from excitement but more from nervousness. Seth didn’t rush her, allowing her to take some time to calm herself as he caressed her face without touching any other part of her body.

When she calmed down enough to open her eyes again, Seth’s face was already right above hers, and he took the chance to close his eyes and capture her soft lips into a gentle kiss.

Leora panicked for a moment, her heart skipping a beat, but she pushed herself to continue and closed her eyes again, taking Seth’s warmth through his lips.

As her heart beat wildly in her chest, she sensed a wet feeling on her lips and knew it was Seth’s tongue. Opening her already trembling lips, she felt Seth’s tongue slip inside.

‘Open wider, you dumb whore.’ immediately, her mind went to her past, and her eyes snapped open, her source spinning on instinct.

Feeling a large amount of light energy, Seth lifted his head, breaking the kiss instantly and opening his eyes to look at her.

Leora’s face was contorted in disgust, her eyes shaking in their sockets.

With the kiss breaking, her energy slowly calmed down, but she still looked scared, so Seth said in the gentlest tone he could manage: “It’s okay if you’re not yet comfortable. We can wait.”

The disgust immediately faded from Leora’s face, and tears started flowing down her cheeks as she bit her lip in frustration.

“No. I don’t want to wait anymore.”

Seth looked at her white hands, squeezing so hard on the blanket that blood had already stopped circulating through them. Grabbing one of them, Seth felt it was ice cold and sighed as he shook his head.

“I don’t want to make things hard for you. You’ve made so much progress… I’d hate to be the one who brought back all those unpleasant memories.”

Leora looked towards her hands, relaxing her fists as the frustration in her eyes increased.

“But I want it, Seth. I want to connect with you just like the others did. It’s just my body… it’s… I don’t know… reacting on its own.”

“This cursed and dirty body of mine….”

Seth looked into her pained eyes and shook his head: “Didn’t you realize after all this time it was not your fault? It was those bastards’ fault, not yours.”

“You don’t have to hate yourself for being beautiful. You can hate those who took advantage of you and your body. It was never your fault.”

Leora turned her head to the side, tears slowly flowing down her cheeks as she said: “I… let’s stop. I’m sorry, Seth, I thought I was ready, but I can’t do this to you… to the others.”

Seth frowned and asked: “Do what to me?”

“...”

Seeing she didn’t answer and remembering her earlier words, Seth sighed as he understood.

“Do you think because what happened to you… you are not worthy of being with me?”

Leora’s hand shook with his question, giving him the needed answer. Sighing again, Seth moved to her side, laying next to her on the bed and looking into her tear-stained eyes.

Lifting his hand above her cheek, he kept staring into her eyes and said: “You think I’m such a saint myself? That being together with you will somehow dirty me as well?”

Seeing Leora avoid his eyes and lower her head, Seth continued.

“That is the dumbest thing ever. Leora, you were a victim of this world, forced to suffer because you were too weak to be able to fight back.”

“In the past, I had the power to not bow to everyone and chose to use it to kill hundreds of billions of people.”

“Entire words fell pray to my desire for destruction, their souls not even given the peace of returning to the spirit well. The blood of countless people stains this hand that touched your body.”

Seth bit his lip and continued angrily. “You think you are dirty? Just because some entitled pricks took advantage and abused a powerless little girl? Then what does that make me? I didn’t walk around raping people, but I am still an abuser, just a different kind. I had the power to do whatever I wanted and chose to reap lives without a care for no reason at all.”

Leora panicked and looked into Seth’s pained eyes, quickly grabbing his hand and squeezing it hard.

“Please don’t, Seth. It’s not the same. It was not you. It was your will of destruction.”

“I won’t deny that, but what about this life? What about all the people I killed in this life? What about all the blood I chose to stain my hands with again? And what about all the people I killed in my past life before I even got a divinity?”

Leora shook her head: “It’s not the same. You had a reason for it. You want to make this world better. Those deaths were all to accomplish your goal.”

“Maybe, but does the end truly justify the means, Leora? Will the greater good I strive towards wash away all the blood covering these hands? Let me tell you, it won’t.”

“I chose to do this. I’m not the saint you think me to be. The depiction of a demon will suit me so much better. You’re only thinking so because you were on my side of the story, but what if you were one of the wives of those men I killed in the war? What if you were on the opposite side of the war?”

“I’m no hero, Leora. I never considered myself to be and have long come to peace with it, but if you’re dirty for falling victim to circumstances outside your control, what does that make me?”

Leora’s body kept trembling, her eyes begging Seth to stop, but he didn’t and continued.

“Let me tell you a lesson I learned after living these two lives. There’s no such thing as good or evil. There’s no dirty and clean, and there’s no right or wrong. Most of the time, a person’s happiness will be another person’s sorrow. My concept of good might be what others consider as evil.”

“Do you think the horrors I plan to kill also see me as a hero? They have their own goals as well. They might be selfish goals, like consuming the human race, escaping their seals, gaining a divinity, or simply earning a soul from the spirit well, but aren’t my goals also selfish?”

“I’m protecting the human race because I need them to reach the peak. I’m protecting you and the other girls because I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

“You and I might be considered dirty in other people’s eyes. If people knew what I did and what happened to you, they would look at us with either scorn, fear, or disgust, but there will also be others who will do it with pity, hope, and compassion.”

“You might consider yourself dirty for what happened, but to me, dirty is the greatest insult you could ever throw at your body and soul.”

“I’m sorry since I know these words might hurt you. I know your past experiences were horrific, and no one should have to go through that, but they are also part of who you are today. That pain let you understand what others in similar situations felt and allowed you to rally those women in Curse to grab a better life for themselves.”

“A perfect body has grown as a reflection of your gentle and beautiful soul. If someone is unworthy between us, no matter who you ask, they will always be me.”

“The difference of choice between our circumstances makes you the saint and me the monster.”

Leora looked into Seth’s completely red eyes and felt her heart about to crumble in pain. She had never seen Seth look so hurt.

“Please - “before Leora could speak another word, Seth moved forward, kissing her lips again.

Their eyes were locked onto each other, their emotions of pain and gentleness clear for the other to see.

Seth broke the kiss and moved back, continuing to hover his hand above her cheek without touching her.

“You’re not the one who’s dir - “

Seth also didn’t finish his words as Leora grabbed his hand, bringing it down to cup her cheek as she sought his lips on her own.

Leora’s hand was shaking, as did her lips. Myriad emotions were in her eyes, but she ignored them as she parted her lips, her soft and gentle tongue passing by Seth’s lips.

They closed their eyes, their tongues meeting in the middle, entering a slow and probing dance. Leora released Seth’s hand, letting it spread its warmth to her cheek as her hand went on to seek Seth’s cheek.

A clumsy kiss, with Leora taking the lead, ensued. Her body looked like it was protesting the entire time, as did her mind, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to see Seth ever looking like that again. She didn’t want him to ever speak like that again.

He was her savior, her hero, her teacher, her support, her god, and now her lover. By now, she realized he was her everything and didn’t want that pain ever to mar those eyes she fell in love with.

Those eyes which looked at her like she was a nobody in the past, the first eyes that didn’t see her as a sex tool. Those eyes that didn’t see her as a broken human.

She still remembered the comfort she felt in the pure indifference she had seen in those eyes.

She remembered how they turned gentler with time and slowly replaced their indifference with care and love. But now, those eyes looked at her with pain, all because of her.

‘Never again.’ Leora told herself. ‘If this sullied body of mine is beautiful to you, I will also learn to love it. If this shattered soul of mine is so pure to you, I will strive to rebuild it in your vision.’

‘I am all yours, Seth. I will be what you want me to be, but please, don’t show me that look again. It hurts so much more than everything those men did to me.’

‘You are a hero. My hero. You are a saint. My saint. And you are a God. My God. My body, heart, and soul. You can have it all.’

‘You are the light of my life.’

*Crack.*

A clear sound resounded inside the room, making both open their eyes to notice a bright ray of pure white light covering them.

Seth already identified it as light energy, but he couldn’t understand what was happening.

*Crack.*

‘System? What is happening?’ asked Seth, clearly identifying where the sound was coming from.

Leora’s heart. Or, more precisely, her source.

As he looked down towards her chest, he could see a vortex of perception and lust energy leaving his body and entering her heart.

There was no reply from the system, and Seth could already see Leora’s face was starting to pale.

Without hesitation, he placed his hand on her chest and closed his eyes, trying to probe her source with his destruction energy.

What he saw inside horrified him. His lust and perception circled her source, the vortex of light inside spinning in reverse, struggling against the shells of her fifth shell.

“Leora. Control your energy.” Seth looked at Leora’s face only to notice that her eyes were blank. She was already unconscious.

Seth’s breathing quickened, and he looked back at her crumbling source, his mind blanking for a moment.

“What do I do now…?”