Chapter 51: Chapter 51 – Interludes

Novus opened and then quickly closed his eyes. He had seen it in that brief glance, and now that he knew it was there, he would have to face it. The Divine were oddly stubborn that way about meeting their expectations.

Sigh.

Reluctantly, Novus looked toward the flawless white tea set and briefly felt the urge to ruin it. However, not even obnoxiously sliding the chair across the boundless white floor produced any loud noise, let alone trying to smash unbreakable tea cups.

Tch.

Novus fell into the chair with a resigned look. Before he chose to blink again, Novus picked up his teacup and took a soft sip. Despite the expected fragrance and taste, it was bland to the point of water tasting better.

You would expect the Divine to have something better.

Finally deciding to face the inevitable, Novus blinked his eyes, and a voice came from behind him.

“Welcome, Novus.”

The faceless figure walked over and sat down in the opposite chair. Their pristine white suit was still free of even a single speck of dust or blemish. Silence reined the atmosphere as they calmly held the teacup to their non-existent mouth and began sipping.

…

…

…

The faceless figure was the first to break the silence as they finished their sip.

“Adrianne.”

“What about her?” Novus inquired.

The faceless figure continued as words echoed around Novus’ annoyed face.

“She is unique among the unexpected variables. A variable we didn't expect to face. Other than you, I suppose.”

Facing the faceless figure's words, Novus felt shame mixed with his frustration as he defensively lashed out.

“We? As in, all of your forsaken kind couldn’t muster up their almighty power to expect a little differently?”

The faceless figure was silent for a moment before the chair Novus sat on disappeared. With a thump, he fell to the floor and was up to his feet just as fast to hear the faceless figure's words.

"Few people live after calling us forsaken. Consider what you say next carefully."

...

Silence, and the little sips from the faceless figure, floated around the space. Finally, Novus mumbled under his breath.

"Bastard Divines..."

Novus’ reply was certainly not polite, but the faceless figure shrugged off the response as they put down their teacup. Instead, they continued their intended conversation.

“Adrianne is blessed like you. But, despite witnessing its destructive tendencies, we have been unable to find the link to a destruction-related Divine. It's like your odd divine power: unable to be traced, but present nonetheless.”

The reminder of a power being bestowed by an unknown god made Novus uneasy. Yet, Novus knew he wouldn’t be here without it. And that it was quite possibly the only thing keeping him here.

Crack.

The first chip in the teacup landed inside Novus’ empty teacup.

“I, we, are not impressed that she ended up in the hands of the Hidden Shadow. I will remind you that your previous attempt at destroying the Hidden Shadow by yourself ended with you killing, and being killed, by the very people you wished to protect.”

Novus’ brows furrowed at the mention of his past.

"The Time God must have been busy being pestered by you."

Novus continued with a belly of rage.

"Unfortunately, this life is mine. Not yours. I'll do with it what I please.”

The faceless figure’s teacup cracked at the handle, and the tea inside spilled, drenching the white tablecloth.

“My patience wears very thin."

An odd sensation began to emanate from the faceless figure. One that Novus recognized.

"You have been entrusted with a duty that you will fulfill because it is what you will choose to do and aligns with our goals. Whatever Divine chose you, knew that. And wouldn’t let you waste it on playing heroics that end in disaster like your previous world.”

Novus fearlessly stared where the faceless figure's eyes would have been, had they had any.

“Nothing you say makes me do anything.”

The faceless figure sat deeper in his chair and crossed his legs as Novus walked away from the table and anywhere else into the boundless white space. However, even away from the table, the faceless figure’s voice still echoed around Novus.

“You are not special, Novus. Though you hold what we think is the best chance of accomplishing what we wish, others who are able and willing to obey our orders have appeared with you.”

Novus shouted out to the endless space around him.

“Then let them obey! Let them be your foolish pawns! I never accepted your invitation, and I never will! Let the forsaken Divine choose their apostles and leave! Me! Alone!”

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The faceless figure let out a breath of frustration for the first time in millennia.

Sigh.

Crack! Shatter!

The faceless figure remained exceptionally still as the teacup shattered on the table and a swirling black vortex expanded from below Novus. Their time together in the boundless, white landscape had come to a close.

“You'll regret your choice, Novus. But heed my warning. Seek the tournament and its prize. Let it help you in your destiny.”

A shard of the teacup shot from the table and slashed against the faceless figure’s hand as a drop of white blood leaked onto the table. By saying too much, they had been punished.

Too far away to notice, Novus simply brushed off the warning and closed his eyes in thought as his body broke apart into the swirling black vortex.

 

---

 

Percival walked down the street in a thoughtful daze with a grocery bag in each hand. They shifted alongside his feet as strangers unconsciously passed by without the slightest contact.

How?

The word kept repeating in his head until he finally murmured the rest aloud.

"How did the game know about things in this world? It makes no sense."

The street was bustling with cars, pedestrians, and tourists navigating to their destinations. Honks rang out simultaneously as people cursed, while others numbly walked the street corners, uncaring if the world went on living.

“Percy…”

It was an example of a typical big-city street packed with people rushing to their destinations. Seeing someone out of the blue and without planning seemed like something from a movie. It was simply that untypical. Simply fateful. Or perhaps, ulterior motives would lie at the heart of such an occurrence.

“Percival!”

At first, the call seemed distant. Percival didn’t even register the voice, nor did he try to. Percival reasoned the voice was probably calling someone else.

“Percival! Hey buddy, it’s me!”

Percival’s walking path was obstructed as a man with a tucked newspaper waved towards him. The man seemed like a foreigner wearing odd clothing for the season, but Percival immediately recognized him.

“Hey, Richard. It’s been a while.”

Percival responded straight and hardly smiled, but Richard seemed genuinely happy to see even that.

“Yeah! Since Mary’s wedding. She’s been real great these days. A husband and newborn are already keeping her busier than she thought. Heck, maybe I’ll do the same someday soon.”

Percival detected a trace of melancholy tone, and he knew why, but didn’t want to say anything that would keep him here any longer. Percival tried to end the conversation with a passive smile, but Richard blew off the ending as he pulled out the newspaper from his armpit.

“Hey, you seen this?”

Richard pointed to the news headline, 'New Virtual Reality Game Rocks the World!’

Various columns of words were underneath with gossiping sub-articles like ‘Cain Vs. Hercules? Who Wins?’, ‘Exclusive Island Ranker Tournament’ and ‘Divine Blessings for Apostles.’

Reading the newspaper would take more time than Percival cared to spend. Instead, he would rather read the official game forums and ranker's guides to prepare.

Percival uncomfortably exhaled as he took a step past Richard.

“Yeah, they always go for the wildest headlines. Anyways, I gotta go—”

However, a simple step from Richard kept him in the way.

“Didn’t you say this was the game you would play? You probably already made quite the amount from it, right? That was why you quit over at the marketplace. Was to play and make enough money—”

Richard spoke with excitement, which was the opposite of Percival’s reluctant, now frustratedly blunt tone.

“Yeah.”

Percival half expected Richard to go on a tangent, but when he saw Richard bite his lip, Percival rushed in his departure words.

“Listen, Richard. I’ve got to go. It was good to see you. Say hello to Mary for me.”

Richard visibly deflated but still extended his hand as a farewell.

"I will. Good seeing you, Percy."

Percival stared at the hand before him and walked past Richard.

“I can’t shake your hand. Not after last time. Really though, take care.”

Percival followed the words with a thought.

I hope you can let our relationship die in the past, like Mary did.

Behind him, the figure of Richard with an outstretched hand stood as still as a statue. The outstretched hand clenched as a cluster of people submerged around Richard, making his figure disappear into the crowd.

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