60. Defying Fate, Aponia's Kiss
[After months of earning her trust and expressing your understanding, Aponia spoke to you at length. It seemed she had finally found someone she could confide in.]
[She considers herself a sinner, and your self-proclaimed title of "accomplice" subtly aligned with her needs. There was even a hint of joy in her tone when she spoke to you.]
[She told you about the "divine gift" she received since childhood: her ability to see the threads of fate with her eyes, and her power to persuade others, making them obey her.]
[You realize that compared to you, the current Aponia doesn't understand her own power very well, and even feels some rejection and resistance toward it. She has been living with this immense inner conflict.]
[This power burdens the kind-hearted Aponia with a heavy psychological weight. She believes it is a mission bestowed by heaven, which is why she strives to help those with tragic fates, hoping to change their lives.]
[And "Precepts" are her means of altering a person's fate—but the truth is, this method yields minimal results.]
[Yet, Aponia never gave up. After countless attempts since childhood... she has grown somewhat obsessive.]
In the small confessional room of the sanatorium's chapel, a nun sat before a slender young boy, holding his hand and pressing it against her ample chest, slowly recounting stories of the past.
Words like "chapel," "young boy," "mature nun," and "confessional" strung together might easily conjure up some hellish imagery involving either devouring children or making them, but Gao Qi swears by all that's holy—nothing like that happened at all.
Well, truth be told, if something did happen, he wouldn't exactly mind. It's just that the pure-hearted Aponia would never even think of such things.
She was merely... slowly narrating her life up to now, and the story of every person she had influenced or changed.
"I... have seen the fates of many people. I've even warned them, but they either react with utter terror or refuse to believe me. I've persuaded many, changed their minds, but in the end, it only seems to steer them toward their predetermined demise."
With sorrow clouding her eyes, Aponia placed Gao Qi's small hand over her left breast, hoping he could feel her heart.
Unfortunately, the barrier of her heart—or rather, the physical one—was far too thick and resilient. Gao Qi couldn't detect even the faintest heartbeat, only warmth and softness. Embarrassed, he tried to withdraw his hand, but Aponia, facing a child, felt no shame at all. Instead, she pressed his small hand down more firmly.
"I... selfishly brought the children to the sanatorium, using words to ignite their will to live, but their fates remain unchanged. I cannot cure their illnesses. I can already see their threads of fate about to snap."
Having voiced her most painful and tangled worries, Aponia's beautiful face was etched with conflict and uncertainty.
"I... might just be deceiving myself, doing things for self-satisfaction. I cannot truly change their fates. Instead, I've trapped them in this tiny sanatorium."
Looking at the young boy quietly listening before her, Aponia didn't actually expect him to understand too much.
"If the recent rumors are true, that gathering those infected with Honkai disease actually hastens their deaths... am I truly on the right path?"
In truth, even as an adult, these questions left Aponia at a loss. She simply needed someone to confide in, someone to listen to the frustrations she had carried since birth—ununderstood and unacknowledged by anyone.
But clearly, she had underestimated this "child."
[Sigh, it's not easy. Thankfully, the real Aponia isn't as cryptic as the one in the Elysian Realm. No, wait, it's the writers who are the cryptic ones, right?]
After Aponia confessed all her troubles and sorrows to Gao Qi, he finally truly understood this nun.
Like him, she was someone who fought against fate. The difference was, she could vaguely discern the flow of fate, while Gao Qi was directly targeted by fate itself.
The result of Gao Qi's battles with fate was often him, in simulation after simulation, actively or passively sacrificing his life.
As for Aponia... the price she paid was having to watch the many people she desperately tried to help march toward their inevitable ends.
Gao Qi thought that the suffering Aponia bore was far greater than his own.
If Gao Qi put in so much effort, only for people in the simulated worlds to still follow the exact same path as in reality, he would be deeply distressed.
However, Gao Qi believed it definitely wouldn't be that way.
At the very least, his own Kiana knew the truth about being a clone, understood Cecilia's sacrifice, and surely wouldn't become the Herrscher of the Void for that reason, nor end up wandering the skies like the poor girl he saw before... That had to be true!
Thus, after listening to Aponia's outpouring, Gao Qi felt an intense sense of empathy.
He decided to help Aponia with all his might.
Not just to repay the debt of saving his life, but because, in a way, Aponia was someone like him—a rebel against fate.
"Aponia, sister, to be honest, I don't really believe in fate. If the course of everything is already predetermined, then the world would be far too tragic."
Lifting his hand from Aponia's chest, Gao Qi gently took her slightly larger hand, calloused from years of work, held it, and smiled at her.
"But if it really is as you say, that everyone's fate is sealed the moment they are born, like in the myths, spun into threads by the Three Fates... then, if fate could be changed so easily, wouldn't that make the gods seem rather inept?"
Smiling at Aponia, Gao Qi, at this moment, stopped trying to act like a child or use Bronya-style cute tactics on Aponia. Instead, he spoke to her seriously, as one adult to another.
"I've heard someone say that fate is but a slumbering slave. Our attempts to change it merely rouse it from its sleep, which might make our situation worse—but we are no longer asleep or numb. The struggle and rebellion against the 'slave masters' who manipulate fate is, in itself, a joyful thing, isn't it?"
Gao Qi didn't dare claim he could be like Kratos, pummeling the Sisters of Fate into submission, or like Sun Wukong, scratching his name off the Book of Life and Death. Asking him to confront the Will of the Honkai was simply asking too much.
But... he had achieved things before. No matter how much the world's will tried to pull the plot back on track, Gao Qi had still changed many people and events.
"Another saying goes: 'To fight against heaven is endless joy.' Sister Aponia, fight against fate. Treat it as a challenge to the gods. Whether for the children's sake or your own, I will help you with all my heart!"
Meeting Aponia's bright blue eyes, Gao Qi appeared utterly sincere.
"Oh... is that so? You believe me... you're willing to help me... Thank you. Thank you."
For the first time since her birth, someone was willing to trust her unreservedly, and even after understanding such a terrifying thing, still chose to stand by her side.
Even the usually calm and composed Aponia now seemed... moved.
Opening her arms, Aponia suddenly embraced Gao Qi, pulling him down onto the soft sofa of the confessional. She was happy, immensely so, and it made her emotional.
"Mmm, sister, that place is too—"
Although she wished to change everyone's fate and save the corruption of Twilight Street, Aponia's body was, without a doubt, an incarnation of sin.
The nun's voluptuous figure pressed entirely onto Gao Qi. Her soft chest completely engulfed his small head, while her fleshy thighs clamped around his slender legs. Only two thin layers of fabric separated them, allowing them to feel each other's bodies freely.
By all that's holy, although Gao Qi was in a relationship with "Snake" (Mei), their progress was, at most, on par with his current situation with Aponia.
In reality, Aponia enjoyed close interactions with children, loved holding them in her arms to tell stories.
But those brats, too young to appreciate a sister's goodness, would actually find Sister Aponia annoying. Whether boys or girls, they always ran away swiftly from her intimate hugs.
After all, those constantly hugged by her were undoubtedly immature kids—except for Gao Qi, of course, because anyone who dared call him immature had gotten a few good flicks on the forehead and spanks.
Gao Qi was different. While he wouldn't actively seek out mischief, if Aponia wanted to hug him, he saw no reason to refuse. Why pretend to be aloof when a free treat was offered?
Although Mobius was his one and only sun, he couldn't deny he also liked Aponia. He was just enjoying the closeness, definitely not doing anything else—probably, maybe, possibly... that didn't count as cheating, right?
For this reason, Gao Qi never refused Aponia's embraces.
And Aponia, noticing this, having rarely enjoyed such affectionate hugs from other children, poured all her accumulated maternal instincts onto Gao Qi.
Each time, Gao Qi struggled to maintain composure, but he always managed.
At that thought, the pressure on Gao Qi's head suddenly vanished, and he immediately opened his eyes.
He saw Aponia above him, propped on her arms, her golden hair cascading like a waterfall on either side of him, her azure eyes seemingly holding galaxies within, her smile brighter than ever before.
"Thank you. No matter what, I will continue to persevere. Together with you, we will defy fate."
Then, she leaned down and gently kissed Gao Qi's forehead. Her exhaled breath was soft and warm, the softness of her lips unforgettable.
Finally, this time, Gao Qi couldn't hold back completely.
Suddenly, Aponia felt a... force against her lower abdomen.
"Huh?"
Then, her lips were gently met by the young boy before her.
Gao Qi—had had enough of holding back!
Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
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Raw: 崩坏模拟器,你找的人是我么?