( The next day, Back On Earth )

The next day, Rocky returned to Earth with Riva and took her to his new apartment in the ‘upside’.

Determined to maintain a stress-free and happy environment for Riva, Rocky made sure no one disturbed them while they were inside as he intended to spend the entire day alone with his sister, aiming to understand the extent of her psychological condition.

Guiding Riva into the living room, Rocky showed her the beautiful space bathed in the soft, warm light filtering through the large windows as he tried to remind her of how much she had wanted a new apartment with ample sunlight when they lived in their old one.

Their old apartment, though large and spacious, was still covered by other large apartments on three sides, making the natural illumination only look so-so, and hence Riva always wanted to move out to an even better apartment after Rocky graduated, as while she had the money to do so, she wanted to wait till Rocky was done with his schooling to make the change.

“What do you think, eh big sister? Your brother has managed to buy a new apartment and it even has lots of natural sunlight!” Rocky said excitedly, opening the curtains for Riva, however, as soon as sunlight fell over Riva’s skin, she squinted and curled up into a ball, seemingly disturbed by the bright light.

“No…. No sunlight, please– it burns…. It burns badly, ” Riva said, in a feeble voice as Rocky instantly closed the blinds, turning the living room into a dark environment.

“I’m sorry brother, I haven’t seen the sun in over a year and now my skin can’t take it so suddenly.

I-I don’t know what’s happening to me–” Riva said, as she started to shiver, prompting Rocky to instantly change the topic to ease her nerves.

“Oh yeah, don’t worry sister, I’m also not a fan of the sun….. as a believer of Gemini and Vampire God Ravan, I think it’s best if we keep the blinds closed” Rocky said, trying to crack a joke, however, Riva clutched her head and started to writhe in pain at the mention of the word ‘Gemini’.

“Gemini….. they tortured me for information on Gemini….. an alternate world….. A champion…. I was supposed to be the champion… a dormant system…..

Max Rajput….. soulmancer… aghhhhh, aghhhhhh, it hurts! It hurts! ” Riva said, writing on the sofa while clutching her head, as Rocky felt completely dumbfounded watching her sister struggle so much.

With this interaction on one hand he realized that the Olympian bastards had indeed tortured Riva for information on Gemini, and on the other hand he realized that Riva knew that she was supposed to become the Champion Of Gemini.

While her mental condition was definitely nowhere near normal with even random words seemingly triggering her trauma in a big way, Rocky did not doubt the meaning of the words coming out of her mouth, as he believed that despite the mental torture, Riva’s words still held meaning and were not ramblings of a madman.

“It’s okay sister…. Nobody’s around, it’s just us…. You are safe here… it’s okay!” Rocky said, as while he could not understand the complete context behind Riva’s words, he did understand it partially enough for them to make some sense.

In his first meeting with Shakuni, the True God had told him that he was not supposed to be the chosen champion and that Riva was supposed to be the one, however, due to unexpected circumstances arising, the Gemini Gods had to choose him to inherit the system and become their Champion.

“Look sister, over that table…. It’s a picture of us alongside mom and dad…. It’s your favorite picture, one where I’m smiling with broken teeth–” Rocky said, as he pointed towards a picture frame near the living room sofa, which looked the same as the picture frame from their old house that was destroyed in the fire of Riva’s kidnapping explosion.

Upon his insistence, Riva let go of her head and started to look around the room, as she seemed to forget about her pain momentarily, getting lost in memories of the past instead.

Currently, the room was filled with cozy furniture and familiar trinkets from her and Rocky’s past, which was a result of conscious effort on Rocky’s part as he tried to provide Riva with some semblance of normalcy and familiarity.

From the side, Rocky watched her as she sat on the sofa, her eyes darting around the room, taking in the environment with a mixture of fear and confusion as while she seemed to be happy to see the familiar objects she seemed to be to afraid to touch them, as she seemed to fear that this illusion of warmth would crumple if she dared to touch it.

“Hey, Riva,” Rocky said softly, forcing a smile, as he drew her attention.

“I’m going to make us something to eat. How does that sound?” he asked, rehearsing the dialogue twice in his head before speaking it out-loud to ensure that there was nothing triggering inside the sentence that could aggregate Riva’s trauma.

Nodding slightly, Riva gave Rocky her approval to cook her some food, though her eyes didn’t quite meet his.

She seemed lost in a world of her own and the vibrant and strong sister that Rocky once knew now seemed to have been replaced by a fragile, haunted figure, and although Rocky’s heart ached seeing her this way, he masked his emotions, knowing that he needed to be strong for her.

Getting up, Rocky headed towards the kitchen as he busied himself preparing a simple meal.

For cooking, he chose a dish he remembered Riva loved—pasta with a light cream sauce and started to prepare it as best as he could, chopping the ingredients nicely with his now increased dexterity as a warrior.

As he cooked, his mind raced with thoughts of the past year, the endless searches, and the sleepless nights filled with worry when he tried to discern Riva’s whereabouts after she was initially kidnapped.

He had always been the younger sibling, relying on Riva’s strength and wisdom, and now the roles were reversed in the most painful way.

Just a year ago, the last conversation that the two had was Riva scolding him for sneaking out during new years as she seemed to worry about him, and now the roles had been reversed with Rocky having to think twice before just saying a sentence, as Riva’s mental state was as fragile as a thin sheet of glass.

When the meal was ready, he carried the plates to the living room. “Here we go, Riva. Your favorite,” he said, placing the plate in front of her.

Riva looked at the food, a flicker of recognition crossing her face as she took in a wasp of the delicious scent.

“When did you learn how to cook so well?” She asked, sounding normal as she picked up the fork with trembling hands and took a small bite.

For a moment, Rocky hoped that after eating his meal prepared with hard work and love, Riva would smile as usual, however, much to his dismay, as soon as she took the first bite, almost immediately, her face contorted with discomfort.

She tried to swallow, but her body rebelled against her as tears welled up in her eyes as she gagged and rushed to the bathroom.

Rocky followed quickly, finding her hunched over the sink, vomiting the little food she had tried to eat as he rubbed her back gently, feeling utterly helpless. “It’s okay, Riva. It’s okay,” he whispered, trying to soothe her.

Apparently, the drugs that the Olympians gave her, not only destroyed her body’s hormonal balance, but also destroyed her capacity to digest food, leaving Riva in a hopeless situation where she could no longer enjoy even the simplest joys of life, making the medical syringe formula of the Olympians her only source of sustenance.

*Sob*

*Sob*

After she finished puking her guts out, Riva instantly sank to the floor, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed out loud.

Feeling his gut wrench, Rocky knelt beside her, his own eyes moistening. “Riva, talk to me. How are you feeling? What can I do to help?”

She looked at him, her eyes filled with a mix of sorrow and despair. “I’m broken, Rocky. I can’t… I can’t even eat without feeling sick. Everything hurts. My mind…

it’s all a mess. I don’t know who I am anymore.”

Rocky pulled her into a gentle hug, his own tears falling freely now. “You’re my sister, Riva. You’re strong and brave. We’ll get through this together, I promise.

I’m here for you, always.” he consoled, however, the more he understood about Riva’s condition, the more his heart burned with agitated fury, as he had never expected to see the strong woman that he loved so much to be reduced to such a pitiful state.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep