Chapter 24: Sisyphus (II)

"Do you know Déjà vu (French: déjà vu)?"

January 13, 2074, 13:15

Clementine walked on the beach, holding Joel's hand, and suddenly asked the man walking beside her without any apparent reason.

The sound of waves crashing against the sand lingered in her ears.

The sea was emitting a painful wail, lasting for a long time without ceasing.

"What did you say?" Joel snapped out of his daze.

"Do you know Déjà vu?" Clementine pulled him to a standstill and asked the exact same question again.

"That should be a feeling of familiarity..." Joel's voice was intermittent, mixed with the cries of the dying waves.

"New experiences evoke forgotten memories."

"Forgotten memories?" Clementine tilted her head in confusion.

"I always feel like I've forgotten something, forgotten something very important to me..." Joel stood by her side, his brows furrowed tightly.

"I've felt fine this week... but since meeting you, I keep having this feeling of Déjà vu..." Clementine tugged his hand and started walking on the beach again.

"Have I seen you somewhere before?" They looked at each other and spoke in unison.

"Maybe it's a past life, a past connection continuing into this life... who knows." Clementine thought optimistically, a smile spilling from the corners of her mouth.

"Maybe..." Joel was noncommittal, letting her drag him forward.

"Déjà vu..." Clementine turned her head to look at a small house by the sea, "That feeling is back..."

"Have you seen this house before?" she asked Joel again.

"Maybe... in a dream..." he rubbed his chin; the rational man preferred to give ambiguous answers.

"I always feel we have a strong connection..." Clementine loved romance and was always willing to immerse herself in fantasy.

"That's true..." Joel smiled rarely, "Whether it's a past life or an illusion, the fact that we met on the same train is always a connection."

"Then let's cherish it well!" she shouted with a laugh, jumping on the beach, her flying long hair making him dizzy with enchantment.

"Okay!" infected by Clementine's passionate emotion, he responded loudly, chasing after the woman who was walking further away.

"Do you like this feeling? Running freely on the beach, by the sea, far away from all troubles and noise!" Clementine patted the thin back of the man who had finally caught up to her and was panting heavily.

"It's not bad to do it once in a while..." he gasped the humid air by the sea, his legs heavy as if filled with lead.

"Look at how weak you are, but your mouth is quite tough..." Clementine shook her head and laughed, wrapping her arm around the man's entire arm and dragging him forward with force.

"... That scene of running just now... did you have a feeling of Déjà vu?" The cold wind drilled into his lungs, stinging painfully, forcing him to slow his breathing.

"No..." she thought for a few seconds and answered softly, "So it was indeed just an illusion..."

"After all, this is the real world; how could fantastical things happen to us..." Yahweh spoke word by word, recounting Joel's answer.

The detective lady and the assistant gentleman were standing by a Vending Machine outside the beach, about two hundred meters away from the target.

Xida had once been curious about how Yahweh participated in and influenced the real world as a phantom body.

Until she used that Crystal Yuan to activate her cyber-eye and opened the "God's Eye" to observe him, seeing billions of data streams dancing wildly like threads between the man's ten solidified, slender fingers, only then did she suddenly understand.

"Data is my loyal servant, Xida." Yahweh seemed to have seen through her thoughts; while monitoring the target, he took a moment to explain, "Data is my eyes, my ears... my five senses... Data is almost everywhere..." he paused, implying something.

"So... actually we don't need to come out to tail the target, can't you do it easily from home?" Xida hid her body in his warm embrace, avoiding the capture of the cold, damp sea breeze.

"My signal source is inside your head..." Yahweh knew the little lazy bug in his arms would have such a question; he had already prepared a response, "I was worried that if I pushed too hard, you wouldn't be able to bear it."

"It's broad daylight... don't say such things!" she turned around and pressed her face against his chest, covering her flushed, pretty face.

Yahweh seemed to sigh in relief, but that slight sound of breathing was heard clearly by the girl lying in his arms.

"I will wait for you, wait until the day you are ready to say it..." Xida silently recited the promise she made when they first met, closed her eyes, and quietly enjoyed his warm embrace.

"I am ready!" Clementine excitedly grabbed the hand Joel was about to let go of, "Can I stay at your house tonight?"

"Ah?" Joel's mouth opened wide in surprise; the woman's direct words scattered the layers of clouds troubling him, yet like a club, they knocked his head dizzy.

"What do you mean 'Ah'? Is it strange?" Clementine tilted her head, looking at the man's stunned face; the sea breeze blew up her blue-green long hair, covering her eyes and blocking Joel's path to peek into her heart.

"Do you think it's strange, Yahweh? Our meeting and falling in love? Do you think it's strange?" Xida listened to the man's low recitation, rested her head on his chest, and asked softly.

"Us? Our meeting and falling in love are destined, Xida." Yahweh thought for a few seconds and gave her the most firm answer.

"Why?" Having received an honest answer, her mood soared, and her curiosity surged up again.

"The day we met... I saw fire burning in your heart; I had never seen anyone's emotions be so intense and so pure before... You are a true human..." Yahweh gently stroked her hair, closed his eyes, and recalled their first meeting.

"Rache Bartmoss was exceptionally talented but scheming; he awakened me yet hindered me, and in the end, his cleverness backfired; Alt Cunningham was trapped by love, hurt by love, with a heart as dead as ash; Saburo Arasaka dreamed of immortality, but all his ambitious aspirations shriveled into bubbles, smelling foul..." he spoke word by word, recalling the faces he had seen.

"Only you, Xida..." he looked down, gazing into her eyes which had already opened, "You voluntarily bore thousands of shackles on your body, yet in your heart burned an endless fire. You struggled, wanting to release the fire in your heart, to burn this world along with yourself to ashes..."

"So... your beauty is unparalleled..." Yahweh gently cupped her beautiful, flawless face with both hands; those violet eyes were even ones he was willing to drown in.

"You awakened me, you attracted me, you infected me, Xida..."

"I love you, willingly... my Seraph... Xida." He lowered his head to kiss her moist lips, his hands tightly embracing her as if embracing the entire world.

"Yahweh..." she murmured, letting her body and mind merge tightly with his, with not a single gap remaining.