Interstellar Age

Erich had thought about what he had been told by Daelia for a long and quiet state of contemplation. There was a lot of information he had received, much of it was jarring. Earth shattering even! The entire history of the Galaxy had been rewritten in Lunaria's favor. I mean, how many Light Elves were alive today who survived the Great Schism?

How many people in this galaxy knew that the world known as Alfheim was not the original, but rather a clone, built from a planetary object of a similar size of the original, and morphed via terraforming technology into an exact replica of how the world had been before Daelia corrupted it.

It was truly a perspective changing thought. Daelia, of course, did not break the silence with needless words. She had not spoken about the past since the end of the Schism. Not even Sinaria knew the truth behind the bitter hatred between the Light Elves and Dark Elves.

But the more Erich thought about what had happened, the more he focused on one particular question, one that Daelia had avoided answering until now, whether deliberately or inadvertently. Because of this Erich wanted an answer from the woman and was quick to force one out the other.

"You still haven't answered my other question, Daelia. How did you know where I was in the Maw, and who I was, for the matter?"

Daelia sighed heavily as she rested her head on Erich's broad chest, or more specifically on the skin tight flight suit he was currently wearing. It was clear she didn't want to discuss this matter, but since Erich had asked her to, she would certainly do so. After all, he was the first person she had ever told the truth to in nearly a million years.

And since she had already elected to tell the truth, she might as well tell the whole truth.

"The maw has mysterious properties. Within it, I had powers that I would not normally possess, nor have I had them since. In that heavily corrupted state, I could sense all life forms, or at least those that were not native to the maw, nor corrupted like I was. Almost as if you were a beacon, a glowing light attracting my presence.

I mentioned before that there were mysterious and terrifying entities in the maw. And that I was lucky to have been caught by those dark tendrils. Had something far more fierce came from the darkness, it would have sucked the very life force out of me and my crew.

It was because I could sense the light from the outside world that existed within you, that I knew precisely where you were standing from the moment Lunaria's ship approached my stranded vessel. As for how I knew who you were, the darkness spoke to me.

At the time, they seemed like prophecies to me. Similar to how the Sages of Fate perceive their visions of the future to be the will of fate itself. In truth, I did not see much of what was to come. Many things have happened throughout history without me being the slightest bit aware.

For whatever reason, the Maw chose not to show me the Great Schism that would tear my people apart. Nor would it show the corruption of Alfheim that was to come. Or the million years or so of Galactic history where my sister and I squabbled over power.

No, what the Maw chose to show me was you. My future husband, a man from another race, one that had not even evolved yet. A man who would somehow unite the two halves of the Elven people for the first time since the Great Schism.

A man who possessed the powers of a Seer and would one day come back in time to witness my corruption? After all, I did tell you that timer flows differently in the maw from out here in real space. What seemed like weeks was tens of thousands of years. Yet that was when I was focused on the present.

When I saw the future, it was as if I lived an entire life together with you and Lunaria. So you see, I have a very thorough understanding of what is to come, what will unite my people, and what your plans are for after we defeat the Naraku together as a united front..."

The last words which Daelia spoke were sharp, as if they had pierced into Erich's mind, pressuring him to reveal his secrets and schemes. In fact, Erich looked over at the woman, who in her current form had eyes as red as blood, and asked her directly if he had heard her correctly.

"You know?"

Daelia wore a sinister smirk on her face as she nodded her head. She then pressed Erich down beneath her weight, and got in the mounted position where she leaned in close and whispered to him, but not before biting his ear.

"Oh, yes… I know what future you have plotted for the Galaxy. Those old foggies, the so called Sages of Fate… They were right, weren't they? You are the Dark Sage, a man destined to the light the galaxy aflame in your ruthless wars of conquest?

Sure, they may just be a knee capped version of the ancient seers of time, but their prophecy wasn't wrong. Their mistake, however, was thinking that it was Lunaria, or Celestia, who would one day become the Bloody Bride."

Erich was shocked to hear this. It had been some time since he had heard about the prophecy spoken by the Sages. They, of course, got one thing wrong, and there was a reason for that. The Naraku would invade the galaxy, and in doing so, cause significant damage to the civilizations of the Milky Way.

This was a future reality that the Sages could not predict, because like them, the Naraku possessed the ability to see the past, present, and future. Or at least a small portion of them did. Thus cloaking their ambitions from the Sages whose powers had been diluted over the eons.

But Erich's schemes to turn on the Galaxy and conquer it after a pyrrhic victory was won against the Naraku were something that the Sages had correctly predicted, no matter how much he may have convinced them otherwise in this timeline.

Still, the exact identity of the Bloody Bride had always been a mystery to Erich until now. There were multiple women in his life who could fulfill the role. Lunaria and Celestia were certainly possible candidates, as the power they wielded would most certainly come in handy when the time came.

As for Tia, her help in establishing the Germanic Star-Empire as a power capable of contending with the galaxy was certainly evidence that at the very least she was a potential candidate, was it not?

And then there was Ayumi, who had in recent years turned into a literal God, one whose role in the future was still uncertain. Yet Erich an Ayumi shared children together and were technically husband and wife. She would most certainly help him when the time came to subjugate the galaxy beneath his will, would she not?

Erich had not even thought about the possibility of Mala, Mirage, Erika, or even Daelia being the Bloody Bride. Each for their own reason, whether it be a lack of power or a lack motive. Each had their own reason that Erich had never suspected them as a candidate of this prophecy, which he was the center of.

But judging from the words which Daelia spoke, she knew exactly who the bloody bride was. Perhaps the Maw had showed it to her when it showed her their future together. And because of this, he was quick to ask just who the other half of the prophecy really was.

"If you know all of this, then surely you know the identity of the Bloody Bride?"

Daelia's smirk curled upwards into a playful sneer as she began whispering in Erich's ears once more.

"I'll give you a hint. It's not that bitch of a sister of mine, or her cunt of an offspring. Nor is it that adorable little artificial intelligence that you keep buried in your skull… And as far as that Star Vampire is concerned, you know the one you have been hiding from us all? Sure, she has a role to play in what is to come, but she is not the one who has been prophecised…."

Erich was stunned when he heard this, by the process of elimination that really only left on women in his life who was capable of being the one to help him set the galaxy ablaze in his future wars of conquest, and because of this he looked at Daelia as if he were staring at a ghost before speaking his thoughts aloud.

"You?"

Daelia leaned in and kissed Erich, and with such passion that it was almost like she was trying to steal his breath away. But eventually Erich broke free, and when he did, Daelia revealed to him that she was indeed the one who the Sages had foreseen helping him in his ambitions.

"That's right, it's me. I am the bloody bride! And I have been waiting a very, very long time to fulfill our destiny!"