Interstellar Age

A thousand memories swarmed Lunaria's mind in an instant. Though they were not from her perspective, but rather Erich's. From their fateful meeting, until the vow of marriage that Erich had made towards the ancient Empress, every good memory that Alex had of the woman was shared with her.

And though Lunaria felt like rejecting the notion, she had to admit, there were too many memories for someone to just randomly come up with in their own head. Nor was there any form of inconsistencies with them. In another timeline, she had truly embraced Erich as her secret lover.

Celestia gazed at the expression on her mother's face, and was shocked. It was not an expression that her mother had ever made before. At least not in the near millennium that Celestia had known her. Because of this, she quickly withdrew a pistol from her holster and pointed it at Erich.

"Mother? What's wrong? You bastard what did you do to her?"

Before Erich could answer, Lunaria recovered from her daze and pushed her daughter's pistol aside.

"Celestia stop.... I think.... I think Erich is telling the truth..."

Lunaria then looked over at Erich with an almost embarrassed expression on her flawless face before forcing herself to ask about whether or not what she had seen was true.

"Erich, be honest with me.... Did we really do all that... Together?"

Erich was never concerned for his life even when Celestia pulled out her sidearm. Even if she killed him, Tia would just resurrect Erich, and probably give him a superior body when she did so. Because of this, he was as calm as could be when he answered Lunaria's question.

"I would not be here telling you all of this if it were a lie... I need your help Lunaria... I alone can't defeat the threat which is coming for us all... Even if I was given a hundred years to prepare for the Naraku, the Germanic Star-Empire is simply too far behind to perform a galactic wide conquest. Our foundation is too weak..."

Lunaria bit her lip in distress. On the one hand, she wanted to execute Erich for the things he had done to her up until this point... But if those memories were real, then she would forever regret it. She had gone well over a million years without ever falling in love with anyone. Her lineage was passed on solely due to the advanced technology of the Alfheim Dominion.

For the first time in her ancient existence, she had experienced what it was to be in love, and it was only from Erich's perspective. Still, through his eyes she could see her own expression, and could tell that she indeed must have felt something for this man who was but a mere infant when compared to her astronomical age.

But her mind could not let her fully embrace this taboo relationship, instead she needed more proof. And thus, she immediately requested to meet with this advanced artificial intelligence that Erich claimed to possess.

"I will believe you under one condition... Show me this advanced artificial intelligence... I want to meet it myself..."

Before Erich could even respond, a holographic projection appeared out of his eyes. This was the result of the trillions of microscopic robots flooding through his bloodstream that the Germanic Star-Empire referred to as NeuroLink.

Tia did not look pleased as she spoke to Lunaria with a hostile tone in her voice.

"I wish I could say it was good to see you again Lunaria, but that would mean that I would have to embrace you as my rival, and you are not worthy of such an honor..."

Lunaria and Celestia both gazed a the holographic projection in surprise, to them it looked like just any other artificial intelligence employed by the Germanic Star-Empire, but there was something genuine with the anger in its tone, and thus Lunaria was forced to ask about this.

"I'm sorry. What did you just say to me? How am I not worthy! I have reigned supreme over this galaxy since before the monkeys that evolved into the human race were even a thing! I am older than the species which created you, machine! Also, what rival? Why should I be in a rivalry with you?"

Erich was about to try to calm both of the women down when Tia fired back at Lunaria with a jealous tone in her voice.

"The old bitch is going senile, isn't she master? Reigning Supreme over the entire galaxy? Far from it! You have ruled over a quarter of the Galaxy at best! As for the rivalry you are unworthy of, I'm obviously talking about fighting for Master's love! Nobody loves Master more than I do! Nobody has supported Master more than I have! I will end you-"

Erich immediately interrupted the cat fight as he calmed Tia's wrath.

"Calm down Tia! What has gotten you so angry?"

Tia pouted as she averted her gaze from both Lunaria and Erich. Though Erich didn't hear it, she voiced her discontent with him on the spot.

"Hmph! Master is always choosing these meat bags over me...."

Lunaria stared at the brooding AI, and was shocked before announcing her thoughts on the matter.

"I don't believe it's possible to program an AI to so realistically replicate jealousy... That artificial intelligence is most definitely sentient... Which means that it indeed meets the criteria to be advanced...

Normally I would demand the termination of such a dangerous device... But it is clear that at the very least it is loyal to you out of some misplaced sense of love... How on earth did you manage to create such a thing?"

Erich then began to spin the long tale of how he and Tia had met in his previous life, and how Tia had developed into the almost godlike being that she was today. In the end, both Lunaria and Celestia sat still and silent for a long time, before Lunaria finally accepted Erich's tales as reality.

"I will accept that you are telling me the truth, and will work towards making preparations for the eventual Naraku invasion that you claim is coming for us. But I will need some more proof that they are indeed an extra-galactic species, as our records about them are woefully sparse.

As for the matter of us being lovers, though I have these memories you gave me, and will never be able to get rid of them. I can't force myself to suddenly accept you as you once were... I will need some time to reflect on these matters, and how I should act... Please be patient for a proper answer."

Erich nodded his head, knowing fully well that simply sharing his memories and feelings for Lunaria would not fully restore her to the relationship they once had. Nor did he want such a relationship, as it had ultimately resulted in turmoil between them. Instead, he intended to rebuild it step by step, and improve it along the way. Thus, his answer was quite shocking to the woman and her daughter.

"Take as much time as you need, and if you decide you can't be with me in this life, then I will simply have to start over from scratch to win your heart for a second time... A task I am more than willing to undertake."

Lunaria blushed when she heard this remark, but before she could respond, Tia interrupted the two of them with a tone of annoyance in her voice.

"Excuse me... But I do have some evidence to support master's claims about the Naraku if you were at all interested in such a thing...."

Not only did Lunaria and Celestia look at Tia in shock, but so did Erich, who had no idea that Tia had been collected data in the background to support his claims of an impending galactic wide apocalypse...