Chapter 169 169: Trailing Secrets - part 2

“Does he think I am an idiot and I will not realize he is trailing me? How pitiful.”

Clove had noticed it the second she had a tracking spell placed on her person. She did not fault Quince for his curious nature but he was pissing Clove off now.

Of course, he had caught on to Clove’s weird behavior changes but she was not trying to hide them either. She just wanted answers and she was looking for her.

Ever since Clove’s first encounter with Aurora, she was having dreams about a life she had never known before. In those dreams, Clove was older and in a relationship that made her feel good.

It made Clove feel invincible and nothing like the weak child she had always known herself to be.

‘No matter how good I get, I never feel like I do in those dreams again. They bring a hidden desire inside me. That is the only reason I am seeking you out.’

Yes, that was the only reason Cloev had agreed to this cooperation request she had gotten for the overlooker of floors 6-10.

The Ox had been a curious one but she also felt familiar to Clove. Her instincts told Clove that she could trust the Ox to help her out.

Still, habits born out of necessity were hard to tackle and Clove still maintained her vigilance in the overlooker’s presence.

Clove quickly cloaked herself in magic to make Quince’s bird lose notice of her before she knocked on the overlooker’s chosen hideout.

“It’s me. I am here to make a deal with you.”

The door opened without much fuss and Clove entered. A pub filled with people greeted Clove but no one as much as glanced at her when she entered.

Due to the code words she had spoken, Clove had become invisible to all these people. She was like smoke, easy to move and unable to be touched when she moved through the crowd.

Even if someone sensed her presence, they would not be able to tell where she was.

“My lady, go to the second floor and then to room 420.”

Someone passed Clove a key and whispered in her ears the address. But she knew if she turned around, she would not find anyone there.

The one who had whispered in Clove’s ears was a servant of the overlooker. He was only here to deliver the message before disappearing into the wind.

Clove quickly left the over-filled hall. She did not want to spend any more time in between unfamiliar bodies.

Just having someone like this touch her caused her to develop a volatile mood.

Room 420 was just like any other ordinary room from the outside. But Clove could feel the feeling of power and magic from behind it.

Once she entered that room, she would be cut off from the tower and be plunged into a new domain of the tower.

“Welcome, my dear. Please take a seat so that I can listen to your worries for you.”

The familiar face with yellow eyes and green hair welcomed Clove. As soon as Clove saw that face, she felt her worries melt away from her frame.

There was a feeling deep inside her that trusted the overlooker without any reason and Zoe had not proven that feeling wrong so far.

“I decided to visit you as soon as I got here but I ran into a familiar face that caused this delay. I apologize for this lateness in my greeting.”

Clove was apologizing for the sake of apologizing. She did not feel bad in reality but she was curious about how Zoe would respond to her.

“Ah, you met Aurora, right? I was wondering if you both would clash again.”

“So you knew about her? Something about her feels familiar to me but I cannot tell what it is.”

Clove did not even know why she was blurting all this for Zoe to hear. Those words were not something she had even told Quince about.

But Zoe was easier to talk to and also highly versatile in her approach to emotions. She was also a better judge of character.

“It must be your lingering feelings from your past life.”

“Past life?”

“Ah yes. So you don’t remember? It’s weird for you to not remember since you were the one that begged the abyss to spin back in time. You even ended up losing the soul fragments you worked so hard to obtain in that life just for the sake of your foolish love.”

The more Zoe spoke, the weirder Clove felt.

All those words about soul fragments and past life sounded familiar, even if they did not make much sense.

“Zoe, start from the beginning.”

p-?-?-?-?-?-0-?-?-?、?(??) “As you wish. But, are you sure you are ready to hear it all? There was a lot you wanted to forget in your last life.”

“I am sure.”

“Well, if you are sure then I will tell you the short version. As for the long version? You’ll have to remember it yourself. Even I don’t know everything that happened or who you did what you did, so do not ask me any questions.”

Zoe took in a deep breath before she began telling the story.

“It all started when the abyss first opened. All of us overlookers were born with the abyss, all 13 of us. But we were not the only ones to be born out of the abyss.”

“This abyss is a parasite, an external life form that merged with the earth in a symbiotic relationship but it did not take long until it became a parasite and started leeching off from the earth.”

“To protect itself, the earth gave powers to the divine behind called as the 7 original gods who protected earth, but then things happened and those gods had a disagreement.”

“In the end, one of them chose to side with the abyss and that was your original soul. She got defeated and her soul got scattered across the abyss and earth.”

“I promised her to return her soul to the original condition but I did not find an apt vessel until you came along. Not only did you look like her, but also behaved like her.”

“You even had a pet human you liked to keep close to you. So I approached you to help you become complete but the tower did not want that and neither did the earth.”

“They opposed, and you rebelled against it. In the end, your human died and you snapped. Your powers went out of control and the tower offered you a deal in exchange for getting your soul scattered once again.”

“You accepted and here we are now. Once again in a time loop where you lack even more of your soul than before.”

Clove felt something hurt in her brain when she heard all that. For most people what Zoe had said might have sounded like bullshit but Clove could believe this to be the truth.

‘Not believe to be the truth. I know these things happened.’

“And so? What happened to the soul I made this deal for? Are they still alive?”

“Of they are still alive. In fact, she’s the very person you have been obsessing over all this time. It is hard to tell if she remembers you or not but your destiny is still connected.”

There was only one person who fits this bill. There was only one person Clove was obsessed with and that was Aurora.

Then, did Aurora remember what happened with Clove in their past lives? And those dreams Clove was having? Were they her memories of her past life?

“I feel like my head would explode. What should I even do with all this information?”

“Anything you want to. I can also help you get your divine powers back if you want me to. I already have quite a few of your soul fragments with you. They also contain your memories of the past. Do you want them?”

Zoe’s offer was like sweet poison. The more Clove would know, the more she would long to know.

Even now, the feeling of wanting to know more about herself and Aurora was suffocating. It overwhelmed Clove and she wanted to know more.

“Think over this a little more but make your decision quick. If you delay your answer then you might lose someone precious to you.”

Clove closed her eyes but the image of Aurora flashed in front of her closed eyes. This Aurora had a happy smile but an unfamiliar hand on her waist leading her away.

‘I don’t want that. I won’t be able to take it.’

“Zoe, I have my answer. Help me regain my powers.”

“That was what I expected you to say. Now, come here and accept these 2 soul fragments. We will need to get 8 more after this.”

Clove reached out with her hands toward the two translucent fragments and accepted their powers.

The power burned but her mind was clouded with familiar memories that made Clove numb.

‘Ah, I see. I loved her. I loved Aurora and maybe I still do.’