Chapter 34：Diverging Paths

Juno wasn't sure what to expect but it wasn't this.

They find a person, who is most likely Eve, crushed underneath a tree and something else. Juno doesn't waste time and runs to her side, "Hold on Eve! I-I'll get you out!"

Eve doesn't respond.

>

She tries to pull her out from underneath but finds her to be very stuck! Juno could use more force to pull her out but she's worried it will just bring more harm to Eve, who's already in a bad state.

Her only option is to move the tree itself! 

If it was Juno from before, it would be almost impossible. 

It is a very heavy tree, after all.

But now...

There's nothing holding her back!

If she had the strength to fight an Immortal then this should be nothing. Juno breathes in deeply and only grunts slightly as she lifts up the offending tree with her bare hands and throws it far, far away!

"..."

>

Juno gets over her own shock and crouches by Eve's side. She finds that she is wrapped around some type of silk but it's already fallen apart. Juno gently turns Eve around so she can see her face.

She quickly notices that something is wrong.

Eve looks extremely pale, there's no color at all on her face! Not only that but as Juno moved her, she felt the suffocating, burning heat coming from her body. Worse than any kind of fever.

But the strangest thing of all is that she is completely still.

As if she's...

>

Juno wanted to ask what the Immortal Snake meant but suddenly she hears her name be weakly called out, "..Juno?"

Relief floods her senses as she sees Eve slowly open her eyes!

She could cry.

Eve's gaze is clouded with confusion and disbelief, "Juno... you're... here?"

She replies in a soft and gentle voice, "Yes...of course, I wasn't going to leave you behind."

Eve continues to stare at her as if she can't actually believe in Juno's words, in Juno's presence.

She carefully picks her up as best as she can but Eve still hisses in pain, "I'm sorry, I'll get us out of here ssoon, okay? Just hold on a little longer..."

"No... it's too late.. it's.. useless."

Juno hears her hopeless pleas but doesn't pay mind to her words, she just moves.

"Put me down."

Juno doesn't.

"Leave me."

She won't!

"You... why.. are you here? You shouldn't..."

The only thing running through Juno's mind is getting out, getting help.

The only thing that stops Juno is the bloodcurdling scream that comes from the girl she carries.

It shocks Juno down to her very core, she completely freezes.

She wasn't paying enough attention!

But now she is.

Eve...

She's not...

Something is very wrong.

Juno can't move.

Fear has paralyzed her this time.

It isn't until the screams stop that Juno reacts again. Her whole being trembles as she asks, "Wh-what's wrong!? What, what should I do!?"

Of course Eve doesn't respond, she's being consumed by the pain, by the flames coursing throughout her body and soul.

>

Noodles looks shocked to have been interrupted by its fellow sibling, >

"Wh-what are you doing!? How is this supposed to be helpful!?"

In only a few moments does her face clear up and her breathing becomes steady.

"What...did you just do now?"

>

She doesn't like the sound of that, it's obvious the snake is hinting at something important.

She dreads the answer to this question, "What do you mean by that?"

>

There is always the fear of failure but there is also the small hope of success.

Now that hope has been shattered into pieces.

She doesn't ask any more questions.

She doesn't scream or get angry.

She just stands there in a daze, lost in the eternal moment, letting the message sink in.

You can't help.

"Juno."

She slowly looks over and notices that Eve at some point stood up but it's obvious she's still struggling. Regardless, Eve looks at her with a complicated gaze.

Juno immediately goes to her side, "Ack! What are you doing!? Don't push yourself..."

"I'm sorry, but they're right."

Panic causes her to clumsily grab Eve's hand, a last attempt of sorts?

"No!?"

Eve doesn't shake her off but says with some difficulty, "I made an oath.."

She glances at the restless Immortal Snakes, ".. I'm sure they already know...I'm binded here. I cannot leave with you."

As she said those words, her body radiates an intense heat, much more intense than before, this is no fever.

She's a burning candle, soon nothing will be left.

Juno feels her slipping away but stubbornly refuses to let go of her hand, no matter how much it hurts, "What.. are you saying? No, no we don't have time for this. Let's just go?!"

She urgently tugs on her hand but Eve doesn't budge from the spot.

That's strange.

Juno desperately tries to pull her forward again but it's impossible!

She's immovable.

Eve was "weak" before, she could be moved by Juno, so what has changed?

Juno was "strong" before, she could easily carry Eve, so what has changed?

The answer is that they both have changed.

They have changed in a way where their paths diverge.

Juno refuses to give up and keeps pulling her forward, not noticing the pain in Eve's eyes, "Why? Why? Why!?"

It hurts.

"Please just stop."

She stops but doesn't let go.

How she could possibly let go?

"Don't look at me like that... I am bound here, immovable, as I await judgement and rebirth."

"I don't..."

"You don't have to understand. Just understand this, you moved my heart but you cannot move my soul, my will. You cannot take me."

"I just want to help.. I-I want to-"

She smiles, "I know and you have in a way you won't understand. But I made this choice and I did it for... I just.." she sighs, "We don't have much time left.."

"I don't understand! Make me understand!! Who, who did this to you!? Was it that monster? What do you-" she chokes up, when did she start crying again?

Eve almost wants to reach out with her other hand to wipe off her tears but she knows she can't.

"Why, why can't I just /help/ you? I'm stronger now, I can, I can save you? I don't get it! Why are you giving up?"

//Why is everyone giving up!?//

"I can't explain everything but know that even though I don't have a choice, I haven't given up."

"You.. haven't?"

"No. And I will make myself heard. Listen.. I'm going to change.. against my will and it's all for... the best. I am not bitter towards you because I truly want... my vision to come true.""

>

"Huh!?" This is all too much information to process but all she gets out is, "You, you had a vision?"

"Yes. This is my last vision of you, it will come true. This is why you must leave now, leave and find your family, your friends, stay safe at all costs."

Juno shakes her head, tears still falling, it just sounds as if she's never coming back.

"Even if I can't be there when you're lonely and when you cry, someone will. I won't be able to see you anymore. I think... that it doesn't matter as long as you're safe."

"And you!? Does your safety not matter!?"

Eve is at a loss for words.

"You're changing? You can't come with me? But will you be safe!? Just tell me everything, please!?"

"Ah, I can't because it's too late. What I have to do, what I will become, that is something you can't be involved in."

>

"I refuse to let you go! Not until you tell me everything!? I came here to save you because you're important to me! You don't have to do this alone."

"I... but I don't think that you-" Eve's words get cut off when she notices something from behind, "NO!?"

>

Eve lets go.

She finally lets go of Juno's hand and falls to the ground, holding herself, trying not to scream from the pain that has come back at full force and the fear that is coming.

It all happened too fast, her emotions in too much of a disarray to truly understand.

The Immortal Snakes' warnings weren't enough.

Juno tries to move forward to help Eve but..

Someone grabs her shoulder from behind!

Chills run up her spine as a voice she's longed to hear for such a long time whisper in her ear, "Juno, why do you continue to cause me trouble?"