Chapter four: Feathers and scales.
Outside of the barrier, among the vastness of the cosmos.
In a seemingly desolate planet where the long dead carcasses of massive monstrosities decorated the landscape, the granite-like bones were covered in a layer made of ice and scales that irradiated an eerie bluish light.
A strange insect-like creature with six bonelike legs moved hastily. It had a face like a spider one of its eyes adorned with a seemingly out of place monocle. It moved with a body made of eight compartments that extended like elongated vertebras.
It climbed, jumped, and ran as fast as the physical means at its disposition allowed it. The creature passed through the land, indifferent to its spectacle of bone and crystal.
Behind it, a wave mass of burning appendages covered the earth, as if a dark curtain had swallowed it and the sky painted with a purple glow of the flames. They enclosed on the creature, leisurely chasing it.
The appendages moved slowly, as if tasting the very soil underneath. And yet, the distance seemed to be getting shorter, crumpled like a piece of paper under the force of an unseen hand.
Looking back, the creature hastened its retreat even to the detriment of its cracking body and the earth bellow it, before long, it reached the massive skull of a serpent-like behemoth. The creature entered the formation while analyzing the environment, formulating a plan to further its escape.
It was only when the appendages were starting to get close enough for the creature to feel the heat, that it took out from somewhere a small circle made of black metal that had its surface inscribed with symbols related to pyromancy and collapse.
The creature gurgled something in an unspecified language and threw the charm towards the ceiling.
In a blinding light the upper maw of the fossil broke, its pieces coagulating into massive white burning spears and instantly shooting down upon both the creature and the appendages.
The bombardment kept going for the next few minutes, leaving an expanse of craters bellow.
In the next moment silence reined and the black cover had disappeared without a trace.
At the top of another formation the formation, one that had survived the catastrophe, the creature once again resurfaced. It looked towards the destruction with a stern expression.
"Tsk." The creature made a single sound as it readjusted the monocle on its eye.
'That… that probably wasn't nearly enough to get 'Him'…' he thought warily looking at its surroundings. Before long, he started moving slowly, nearly imperceptibly. At some point, after reaching an enclosed and dark cave, it had transformed into a man with long raven hair, wearing a distinctive wizard hat and an ancient robe.
The monocle was kept in its respective place.
'To think he would hold such a grudge… what else could he want?! He won in the end!' the man whined in his mind.
'This is abuse of authority! Complete disregard for good customs! This… this!?' he felt horrified at his abnormal train of thought, alarms rose inside his mind, after all, at what point had he ever cared about good customs? It was a signal, one of another being influencing him, imposing its own existence over him. 'That crazy bastard!' for 'Him' to be affecting him this much, he had to be close.
Inside the cave the eerie silence was maintained. For a moment at least, as the next, the whole thing came crashing down from nowhere.
The man hastily made his escape towards the surface, between the ruble and the flying dust his robes and hat ended up covered in a thin layer of greenish white powder.
As he looked to the collapse before him, he sensed horror to the weightless on his face. His monocle had disappeared.
'That thing couldn't had fallen off…' he thought, dreading the only explanation.
The next moment a deep darkness descended, as if a curtain had been dropped around him. The sound of the burning tentacles resumed. He looked around trying to find an escape route, only to find himself looking towards a disembodied pair of gloves.
On the first one, a cane inlaid with starlight that seemed to distort space.
On the second one, the lost monocle.
As he prepared to try and escape his gaze got fixed on a featureless white mask. It looked back towards him, as if delighting in his expression.
Slowly the mask started to creak, orifices got formed, allowing two piercing golden eyes to see the man, the later shuddering unconsciously from fear.
It continued to crack, slowly, until a jeering smile formed on the mask's lower half, the man could only offer a wry one in return as sweat dripped down the side of his face.
The laugh of a man choired by both deep and high pitches resounded with mockery, it came from everywhere inside the curtained area.
It sounded like a bizarre combination of soothing and screeching tones.
Amon could only smile, his body trembling as his figure started to disfigure into ringed worms. Even in this state, he tried to answer back "Hello again, Mr. Fo-."
But he was cut short.
After that, the curtain closed in on the land.
***
The light of twilight bathed the Giant Kings Court, as the illusory waves of an unseen sea were heard all around it.
There stood a man wearing a white priestly garb and an imposing shadow on his back. 'His' mind was centered on the crashing sound of the ocean, extending into impossibly complex mazes, forming illusory cities that extended to the edge of the horizon.
He seemed in deep thought until a bout of wind seemed to disturb 'His' meditation.
He slowly opened the seemingly innocent eyes, gazing with kindness at the towering figure covered by a black and yellow curtain.
"For you to ignore basic manners… well this much can be forgiven." said the Visionary, maintaining the gaze forward before moving it towards the Fool.
"Congratulations on fully becoming the Lord of Mysteries" said Adam with a warm smile. Whether 'He' truly meant was irrelevant, and the receiver knew this well.
The figure slowly diminished its size, taking the form of Klein Moretti. A formal suit with a coat draped over him. 'His' gaze was still cold, but a hint of annoyance could be seen at its depths, one that didn't escape the sight of the god of the spectator pathway. "What can I help you with? It seems there are more urgent matters to deal with before coming to see me… "said the spectator, anticipating the answer.
The Fool didn't waste time "I need you to play a role."
"As your psychologist?" teased the Visionary, amused at the Fool's impatience.
"As my psychologist's beyonder powers…" 'He' corrected, before continuing. "It must be perfect, and she must not notice outside interference… to this end, the stronger the abilities, the more convenient it will be to control the situation."
'He' didn't clarify about who he was referring about, confident and naturally suspicious in the Visionary's capabilities.
The Fool stopped speaking for a moment before pulling a simple collar made of a silver string with a ringed pattern. Inside it the aura of the Door and Fool Pathways swirled deep.
The Visionary narrowed his eyes. Even without analyzing the object, 'He' could sense the underlying intricacy and strenght of the article that rested lightly in the hand of the Lord of Mysteries.
Klein then continued. "I'll also need you to show me most of your powers of the Spectator pathway, up to sequence 3… I'll record them and graft them to this artifact. Also, when the time is right, I'll need you to do this impersonation directly."
Adam then questioned. "She died, and yet you haven't brought her back… there is another problem, either her body or her soul… or both." The words of the Visionary didn't manage to move the Fool, as if the later expected 'Him' to know about the situation from the start.
'He' relaxed his eyes before continuing. "There is also the matter with your own mental state. Maybe you want to resurrect her for that purpose. A personally nurtured psychiatrist to treat the mental scars from your battle with the Ancient Lord."
"Will you be doing it?" the Fool pressed on, uncaring about the Visionary's rambling.
"What would be your method? My own strength easily supplants her own, and your record will faithful enough to fool her into believing it to be her own power… but in what way could that be of use?" asked Adam.
"The spectator pathway sequence 2 advancement ritual." Answered Klein.
Adam knew that he wouldn't reveal more, so instead, he started to make his own conclusions. "Hmm… I see, you wish to make her an angel… so it wasn't only her body and soul that were affected but her very beyonder characteristic seems to be contaminated…" he said, taking on a contemplative expression.
'Her soul is probably the easiest part to heal, and her body will naturally be restored with the resurrection… I don't really need your help for those…' thought Klein, using his Clown abilities to keep an unimpressed exterior.
After a moment, 'He' continued with a question. "How do you plan on performing the advancement ritual?"
"Through a dream." Answered the Fool.
'Good...' thought the Half-pillar, not letting his satisfaction show.
Adam kept looking thoughtfully at Klein, who remained silent. The Spectator seemed to be in deep thought, trying to analyze more complex parts of the Fool's plan.
'He' only stayed like that for a moment before asking another question.
"Who will be the subject? As you seem to know, this ritual, as an alternative for the advancement to Discerner, is to understand the true nature of a Great Existence…" 'He' already knew the answer, this was more a tease to his fellow transmigrator.
"It will be me… the ritual needs to have a far greater force than normal to be effective. To the point when her subject must be a point of anchorage of even greater status." There was no pride in the Fool's words, just resignation that he would have to find a way to deal with her memories without affecting the ritual.
'He' had considered letting Audrey have the knowledge about his identity as Mr. Fool, but in the end, he decided not to let her keep it.
It wasn't because of cold rationality.
But because of fear.
He couldn't really point at the source of this fear, so he rationalized it with the fact that she had many important roles as both the Justice of the Tarot Club and 'His' personal psychiatrist.
She was also an anchor of deep significance for his humanity.
All of these facts joined in 'His' mind to justify the fact that he couldn't let her go, either by death as it was the present case, or by her own will.
'This isn't me…' reflected the newly appointed Lord of Mysteries, a solemn etched on 'His' face.
"There is no shame in moving for our own convenience." Said the Spectator, as the previous thoughts seemed to have given Adam a moment to peek unto 'His' mind.
'It's even more convoluted than what I expected…'thought Adam, retreating from looking at the Fool's mind.
Klein instantly returned both his face and mind to akin a cold landscape. 'He' was even tempted to use fooling on Adam but decided not to at the last moment, as if hinted that it would bring the Spectator more troubles than what it was worth. 'Next time I should keep the authority up for good measure.'
For now, 'He' and the Spectator happened to have a united front against the Outer Deities. Attacking or trying to extract secrets from 'Him' at a moment of weakness wouldn't be a good precedent going forward.
Still, it wasn't outside of the realm of possibility, and when considering who Adam was, it was fairly normal for it to happen under the right conditions.
But it wasn't as if he didn't have any method of protecting his mind or others against the Spectator. That much he had easily learned from digesting the Celestial Worthy, who had fought and won, albeit in a pyrrhic way, against the Primordial One.
After a moment, Adam revealed his own conclusions about the plan. "Indeed, it could work… the level of an Angel, a complete Mythical Creature, can certainly resist the corruption of the Outer Deities... to an extent."
He could imagine how the Lord of Mysteries was easily capable of fooling or finding loopholes in reality, making the advancement ritual successful even in a deceased individual.
"Good. This will be the first part of your payment" said Klein as he took out a cage, inside it a raven lay unconscious. The most curious thing was the little monocle that was on the birds left eye.
Adam could only break into an unusually exasperated look before a long sigh left his mouth. Like a parent looking at his son stumble drunk into the house.
'By his looks he might even get into drinking… an alcoholic god almighty?' Klein used the opportunity to lampoon about his fellow pillar, before continuing with to present his offer.
"The second part is a favor."
This perked up the Visionary's attention, a seemingly simple offering but one that could be crucial at the right moment.
"A conditional favor" clarified the lord of Mysteries with a cold voice "If I wanted to offer one without strings attached then Amon wouldn't be here." 'He' said shaking the still unconscious raven.
'Also… with how things are setting, it seems doing you a favor will only be natural' thought Klein, suspecting the involvement of the Visionary in how things panned out.
Before long Adam recovered and gave his answer "I accept the payment… let this set a precedent." Next, 'He' displayed most of his abilities up to sequence 3, each getting recorded into the ringed collar.
"Very well, I'll come to you when the time is right." said Klein before snapping his fingers, changing the unconscious raven into the normal Amon.
He was still knocked out, some drool coming out of his mouth. Adam, not enduring the sight put the pointed hat over his son's face.
A small smirk appeared on the Fool's face before vanishing from the spot.
As 'He' traveled, he reflected upon his meeting with the Spectator.
'It seems that is yet to affect him…' thought Klein, referring to the influence the boons seemed to have on the Spectator Pathway. 'Although he avoided to mention her fate…'
'He' reminded himself to be wary, as all of Adam's words were with a purpose.
***
A few moments later Amon sat straight up and looked over at the unimpressed Visionary, uttering a single question "¿Why?"
"Bargaining chip" answered Adam, in a cold, uncaring manner.
Amon looked dejected, wiping the drool from his face, and speaking only after a moment of silence "I-It could have been worse right?" to this the Visionary only gave him an unimpressed look before shaking his head.
"W-well, since I was brought here by force and without accomplishing my goals, I'll just take my leave…"
The next moment, just as he started walking away and Adam seemed to try and return to his meditation, a night sky enveloped the land, and a deep slumber washed over Amon.
Promptly, a thud was heard from the Trojan Horse of Destiny hitting the ground face first. Adam looked at his son, 'His' eye twitching imperceptibly.
Then 'He' turned towards a curtain of the night sky that seemed to hang and touch the floor of the court. From this expanse, the now recovered figure of the Evernight Goddess made her descent.
'She' naturally ignored the passed-out angel.
"He finally came to you…" 'She' spoke with a calm voice. As if the developments from mere moments ago didn't escape 'Her' expectations.
"You truly know him well… at least the human part of him." Said Adam in return before continuing. "And he did come to you before, discussed most of his plan, and after that he didn't feel the need to be vigilant…" He reflected on the relationship the Evernight Goddess had to her most prolific blessed as of yet.
"You make it sound like I'll do something bad to him." Retorted the Goddess, with a colder look on her face.
"It's not the first time you treated your allies as pawns, Amanises." 'He' countered, a calm expression still on his face, but no longer with a smile.
She only answered in a cold silence.
The Visionary decided against pushing the subject any further, instead revealing. "'They' are moving against the spectator pathway."
The Goddess narrowed her eyes before speaking. "I did sense the disturbances in the fate of the spectators… but they were small, not necessarily capable of dragging the whole pathway… and even if they did, shouldn't they also target the hanged man?"
Adam answered, "Not necessarily… they are targeting the basis I designed to advance towards an Above the Sequence."
Amanises reflected "His apotheosis ritual gave them confirmation on where to aim… the decision of not supporting him has had really bad returns for you, hasn't it?"
Adam shrugged, as if saying that it couldn't be helped, before continuing to elaborate on the situation.
"They managed to give bestowments to an angel, and five demigods of the spectator pathway, this is the result of imposing a fate upon them. They even managed to get another sequence two characteristic and corrupt it, but its effect was by far lesser."
"To become a vessel?" chimed in the Goddess.
"No, the imposed fate is to be tainted, it is far easier to apply than achieving full corruption and control… this way, even if it does not get to me, the resulting effect of imposing inevitability will hinder the progress of my advancement." Adam said with solemnity.
"You didn't let him see." spoke the Goddess, talking about the Fool.
"He is the one that didn't care." said the Visionary before letting out a tired sigh. "He is quite focused on his subject's revival… that gave him tunnel vision, I just made it slightly more focused."
The goddess looked at Adam with narrowed eyes.
"'He' will take notice sooner or later… and after that he will be more guarded against me… although it's more convenient that he doesn't, let him take this as a lesson in humility for the Young Lord." he said with a teasing smile towards the Goddess, as if noticing a newly pried edge in the Fool's character.
"You aren't one to be giving lessons to him,." Said the goddess.
"No, I am not." The Visionary then put his usual smile and continued. "Still, I'm quite optimistic about all of this. The state of the Lord of Mysteries is directly related to our chances to win in the future, so seeing him moving like this for another person is a good sign. It will even help me in my present predicament."
The Goddess held her silence for a moment before continuing "Indeed, the present circumstances are favorable, but it will also be our last opportunity to try anything like this. And if we fail…" she didn't finish her sentence, a worried look now on her face.
Both of them understood the weight of the process to become a Great Old One. And in this, only Klein Moretti had managed to achieve the most stable position that was a Pillar.
And they also understood that a pillar, while stable, possessed a gargantuan amount of godhood. There was a constant gnawing at his humanity, one that normal anchors could not realistically hope to contain.
The two of them now held this terrible urgency... there was a need for something stronger, someone closer, to give 'Him' the opportunity to grasp at and maintain his Humanity.
So that he does not become anything but a 'He.'