KamiKowa: That Time I Got Transmigrated With A Broken Goddess-Chapter 114: [] The Schedule Can Wait

"And when we get back home? Back to the academy? What then?"

Xavier hadn’t thought that far ahead, hadn’t considered what any of this meant beyond surviving Frostfall and completing their mission.

"I don’t know," he admitted finally. "But I know I want you in my life. However that looks."

Naomi studied his face for a long moment. "You’re asking a lot."

"I know."

She sighed, leaning forward until her forehead rested against his chest. "I should tell you to go to hell."

Xavier’s arms came around her, holding her gently. "You still can."

"No." Her voice was muffled against his skin. "I can’t. That’s the problem." She looked up, eyes clear despite the conflict in them. "I’ve wanted you for a while. Even knowing about Calypso. Even seeing how it is between you."

The admission hung in the air between them, raw and honest in a way Naomi rarely allowed herself to be. Xavier felt something shift in his chest, a tightening that had nothing to do with Soul Bonds or percentages.

She pulled back enough to look at him properly. "We need to get moving if we’re going to reach Hearthome. I have some money saved—well, Nessa does. Enough for supplies and horses."

The abrupt change of subject caught Xavier off guard, but he recognized it for what it was—Naomi’s way of processing, of moving forward rather than dwelling. "Horses will make the journey faster."

"That’s the idea." She let the sheet drop, turning to gather her scattered clothes. The morning light illuminated the marks on her body, evidence of their night together. "I want a hot bath before we go. And food."

Xavier watched her move around the small room, efficient despite her obvious soreness. "Naomi."

She paused, looking over her shoulder. "What?"

"Thank you." He meant it for more than just the practical help she was offering.

Something in her expression softened. "Don’t thank me yet, Valentine. We still have to find Calypso and figure out how to get home." She pulled on her underclothes, wincing slightly. "And if you think I’m going to share a bed with both of you, you’re delusional."

Xavier laughed, the tension between them easing somewhat. "We can figure out a schedule later."

"I’ll hold you to that." She agreed, tossing him his pants. "Now get dressed. We have a long day ahead."

Xavier pulled on his pants, wincing as the cold fabric touched his skin. The room had grown chilly overnight, the small hearth fire reduced to embers that cast a dim orange glow across the wooden floor.

"Do you think the real Xavien and Nessa are still in here somewhere?" he asked, gesturing to his borrowed body. "Or did we just... replace them?"

Naomi paused, holding her woolen dress against her chest. "I’ve been trying not to think about that."

"But you have thought about it."

She nodded, slipping the dress over her head. "I think we’re wearing them like clothes. Their memories are still here—I know things about Vykengard I shouldn’t. I know people I’ve never met." She tugged the fabric down over her hips. "But I don’t feel like I’m sharing space with another person. Do you?"

Xavier shook his head, reaching for his shirt. "No. Just me in here. Different packaging, same contents."

He pulled the shirt over his head, his thoughts turning inward as his face disappeared momentarily in the fabric.

Being honest with Naomi hadn’t come naturally. It had felt like speaking a foreign language, the words clumsy on his tongue. Yet he’d done it anyway, fumbling through explanations about Calypso, about his abilities, about the complicated tangle of emotions he was only beginning to understand himself.

"You’re quiet," Naomi said, interrupting his thoughts. She stood before a small mirror, attempting to tame her purple hair. In this world, it was longer than her real body’s hair had been, falling past her shoulders in waves.

"Just thinking."

"About Calypso?"

Xavier looked up, meeting her eyes in the mirror. "About me, actually. About how I’m different now."

Naomi’s hands stilled in her hair. "Different how?"

"The old me wouldn’t have told you the truth last night. About anything." He stood, tucking his shirt into his pants. "He would have said whatever you wanted to hear, then disappeared once he got what he wanted."

"And what do you want now?" Naomi turned to face him directly.

Xavier considered the question. What did he want? To find Calypso, yes. To get back home. To figure out what the Heart of Winter was and how to destroy it. But beyond the immediate goals?

"I want to be someone worth being," he said finally.

Naomi studied him for a long moment. Then she turned back to the mirror. "Well, you’re looking in the wrong mirror then. That’s not even your face."

The comment might have stung if not for the small smile that played at the corner of her mouth. Xavier laughed. "Fair point."

They finished dressing in companionable silence.

"We’ll need warmer clothes," he said, eyeing her woolen dress. "The journey to Hearthome will take us through mountain passes. It’ll be colder than here."

"There’s a shop near the eastern gate," Naomi replied, not looking up from her packing. "We can go there first."

Xavier nodded, turning to look out the small window. The sun had risen fully now, painting the snow-covered roofs of Vykengard in pale gold. People moved through the streets below, bundled against the cold, going about their daily business.

"Do you think any of this is real?" he asked, not turning from the window.

Naomi paused her packing. "What do you mean?"

"This world. These people. Is it all just a story created by the gate? Or is it a real place that existed before we got here?"

Naomi came to stand beside him at the window. "Does it matter? The cold feels real. The hunger feels real. The soreness I feel right now is very real."

"I guess not," Xavier conceded. "But if it is just a story, then what happens to all these people when we leave? Do they cease to exist? Or do they continue on without us?"

Naomi was quiet for a moment, considering. "I don’t know. But I do know we can’t sit here forever, wondering about it. We have lives to get back to."

Xavier turned to look at her. "You’re right," he said. "First, we find Calypso. Then we figure out how to get home."

Naomi nodded, turning away from the window. "And we’d better get moving if we want to make good time today." She hefted her small pack onto her shoulder. "Ready?"

Xavier took one last look around the small room. The rumpled bed where they’d spent the night. The dying embers in the hearth. The simple wooden furniture that belonged to someone named Nessa, a woman he’d never met but whose body he will never forget.

"Ready," he said, following Naomi to the door.

Follow current novels on freewe(b)novel.c(o)m