However, their focus was on another being, they were momentarily frozen as if struck by lightning. 'Amon!' they all screamed inwardly. (The ones who knew him) 'Why is he here?' many thought.
He was just an avatar that got his connection severed from the outside world as soon as he came to this mysterious space above the gray fog. Furthermore, this avatar was only sequence 9. If any one of the beyonders present here decided to fight him, he believed that he would lose his life. If there was someone who wouldn't attack him without any reason here was the goddess so he decided to stay with her. Of course he didn't have any hopes that "she" would protect him or prevent others from harming himself but most people here would stay away from "her" hence he would still be safe.
The tarot club had already seen the true appearance of the goddess so they knew. The true form they saw of the goddess had arms growing out of her torso. Thankfully she only has two arms, like any other human, or else they would've lost control on the spot. The ladies showed interest in her outfit instead, 'isn't she cold with her legs out like this'. They all collectively believed that Amon couldn't do anything with her being by his side.
"Klein..." Leonard muttered in puzzlement, 'wasn't he sleeping in the Fool's kingdom? Technically this is Fool's kingdom so it should be him, who's he portraying as right now? Merlin? Or Sherlock?' the deacon thought in amusement. Leonard was the only tarot club member who recognized the 'host' couldn't help but look at him. He wanted to wave and greet him but held back. Audrey only knew that Mr. World, Gehrman's real name was Klein but haven't seen his appearance.
"Klein..." Benson repeated the nighthawk's words as if that was all it needed to confirm the person's identity. Klien turned towards him, his smile never leaving his face but his eyes slightly watered. He looked at the trio, who knows when little Bennett had left Will's hand and grabbed Benson's pants as she peeked her head from behind him.
He slowly approached his family of this world. "I-" before he could think of what to say, both Benson and Melissa hugged their brother, who had long been dead, at least that's what they had believed. But here he was, doing something... who knows what? When they saw his expression when being called by his name, they knew this is Klein, their brother.
He silently hugged them back, a soft smile adoring his face, that disappeared as soon as it came. He buried his face between the siblings shoulder and said in almost a whisper, "I'm sorry," most people present had superhuman hearing so they could hear him just fine, but it didn't matter.
"That's... That's alright, Klein, we're happy that you're alive." Benson replied, fighting back his tears. "Actually, no... I'm-" Klein took a deep breath as he parted away from the hug, "I'm not Klein," he didn't have courage to see the siblings faces, the horror that crept through their soul at his words. "What do mean?" Melissa asked shakily.
Imagine hugging someone who looks like your brother but isn't. This sent shivers down their bodies, and to every other person present in the space who knew Klein.
As if noticing their thoughts Klein shuddered himself, he immediately responded, "no wait, I am Klein Moretti, but the original body is dead- wait this too doesn't sound right" he shook his head a little and sighed.
"Let's have a seat first, I'll explain everything properly" he gestured at the couches that were already half occupied, thanks to the emperor's example.
First come, first served. Those who arrived first, sat with the people they get along with, remaining unlucky ones had to adjust themselves anywhere. Like Danitz, poor guy had to sit beside the goddess! He didn't know who this beautiful woman in this strange attire was, but her aura was no joke!
From left to right. Starting with the last row, there were nine people sitting there: Amon, Amanises, Danitz, Derrick, Roselle, Cattleya, Reinette, Sharron, Maric.
The middle row, left side: Xio, Fors, Emlyn, Alger. Middle row, right side: Benson, Bennett, Melissa, Azik, Pallez.
The front row: Audrey, Will, Leonard.
The couches were settled on platformed floor, with the last row being the highest, not being obstructed by the front seats in the slightest.
The couches were arranged in a semi-circular manner that Emlyn and Alger were right behind Audrey and in front of Danitz. Similarly on the right side, the Moretti family was right behind Leonard and in front of Reinette. Roselle being at the center of the last row, was closer to the center seat of first row, which was kept vacated.
The people gathered were strong, and the atmosphere should have been strained but everyone was calm, including the Moretti family. Melissa was a low sequence beyonder herself, so she easily accepted the situation but even a civilian like Benson, and not to mention the youngest human Bennet, they all were calm. As if this was the safest place. Klein had hoped for the gray fog to be accommodating of these guests, but the result was better than he expected.
Once everyone was settled Klein stood before the screen, facing the audience, explained. "As everyone would know, the Fool has gone for an indefinite period of slumber, he's actually fighting the madness caused by another great existence," the siblings were listening attentively, they know the meaning of every word but when put together, they understood nothing.
He continued, "the fight has been in stalemate for a while, that existence summoned you all to... learn about the Fool, to know of his secrets, to shake his anchors, to destroy his connections..." Klein was saying this with an expressionless face, at least that's what he thought he was doing. But extreme panic was evident on his face.
'This is blasphemy! To pry into secrets of a god! No wonder he's panicking to even utter the words' most people, especially a certain seaweed-like haired person, misunderstood.
Another thing the people here noticed, was that Klein was using 'him' to describe the Fool, not "Him" their thought process in this direction stopped as they listened further.
"So, as I can't prevent that existence, I might as well supervise the act so as to avoid the situation from getting out of the hand. I will answer your questions and try to clear any misunderstandings, so go ahead and ask."
"This looks like a VIP cinema, can we get some popcorn too?" Roselle asked what he thought was a polite tone. "Why not? Make yourself comfortable~ If you'd like I can even set up a hotpot for you if you'd like it~" Klein said nicely with his tones rising at the end, the suggestion itself wasn't bad. But Roselle could hear the sarcasm leaking in those words, so he shut up. Klein however snapped his fingers and a popcorn bucket appeared in front of Roselle. Other people also got a snack table at the side of their seats. Amanises smiled faintly, Xiao Zhou was quite cute when he was being tsundere.
Most of them didn't directly take the snacks, only glancing at it curiously, the children; however, after smelling the aroma couldn't help but wanting to eat it. Roselle after noticing undisguised curiosity of the blonde teen beside him, offered his popcorn. Derrick didn't know who this was, but anyone who shares food is a good person, so he accepted it. He looked happy as they both enjoyed their salty snack.
There was a silence for a while, but then it was Reinette who raised her hand first, "You said we're here to witness the Fool's secrets, but what connection do the people here have with "him"?
Everyone sat upright at the question, of course except some 'existences', they all wished to know the answer to this. Klein got a bit relaxed as he entered the professional mode, the one he's used to.
"The Fool isn't really what you think he is. You'll know it when you will see it with your own eyes, because even if I do tell you, I doubt you'll believe me. As for your question, all the people here, have some connection with him, there are other people with similar connections as you, but not everyone was summoned here, the choice of people was that existence's doing."
The emperor who wanted to ask 'why was Amon here then?' shut up after hearing that. After all Amon had certain connection to Klein as well as the Sefirah Castle, plus the Zoroast family angel, Pallez was here too. Other than Amon, he was the only Marauder pathway angel who's ever come the closest to the Sefirah.
"Who are you?" Melissa asked, it was quite rude considering the status gap between them, but she was quiet angry. Haa young people are so reckless~ The adults around her either praised her inwardly for her guts or prayed for her safety.
Klein only smiled, "I'm not the main body, I'm just a virtual persona, the 'real' me, I mean the truest me. Doesn't everyone has an inner child in themselves, their true form, I'm that. I am Zhou Mingrui and I am Klein Moretti, I have many other identities. Let me explain more, about Klein, we are the same person, however, our experiences differ so did our personalities. It's a long story and you will find out anyway." His face saddened "just want to apologise in advance, I'm sorry." Melissa wanted to ask more, 'Why are you apologizing if you're my brother in the end? Why did you leave? Why did you hide it from us?' but he said she'll see it herself, so she stopped.
"How long are we going to be here? What will await us after going back to the real world?" Will asked with just the same amount of rudeness as Melissa, and he even asked more than one question! And where did his innocent child persona go, he felt nothing like a kid!
"Who said you will be going back at all?" Klein asked innocently with a slight tilt of his head. Silence. The expressions on their faces were hilarious. Klein chuckled and ruffled Will's hair, "Just kidding! I've just fooled the time in the real world to an extremely slower pace, of course time must flow continuously, so I've only done some tampering so that no more than a minute will be passed when you return. Well, you'll be staying here for a long while, so there will be breaks, you can go back to the real world, attend to your matters, place your body somewhere safe and return here to continue, or you can choose to stay here until everyone is back. We can even play some games!" The last part was directed towards his fellow earthlings, one of whose eyes shone with excitement.
They all heaved a sigh of relief, another hand was raised up, it was the postman. "You think everything would go as you think? Playing with time, you think the other avatars won't notice? You've already revealed so many of the Fool's abilities-" "Shut up." Klein cut him off, to which the monocled man was wide-eyed but eventually maintained his facial muscles in a second. "I won't let you leave, fucking raven. And everything would be known anyway so no need to put up a strong front for nothing," he shrugged.
"Besides, it was lonely up here, carrying the burden of secrets, the life that no one knows, yes it is scary, that people would know everything without any filter, at least they will remember me. I don't care about the 'image' anymore because it doesn't change who I am and what I did. Even if everyone would come to despise me... One person. Just one person is enough for me to give my best." The raven had "interesting" written all over his face as he listened. However, his back was covered in cold sweat.
___(Ik one person isn't enough with the concept of anchors, but I wanted to use this line lmao. Yeah this me, shamelessly taking this from TGCF)___
Audrey and Leonard's face contorted a bit, guessing that their best friend could be a deity, the same deity they followed! However at the latter half of his answer, they were saddened. Their sense of friendship and trust was more dominant than their beliefs on Mr Fool. Mostly because they were primarily believers of the Evernight goddess. 'He was lonely. Sitting at the spot so secluded, away from his loved ones. Most would lose control under the pressure! But he persisted.' They had similar thoughts as they looked at each other. That simple action spoke louder than words, they nodded indiscernibly. After the hall of truth incident, they more or less knew each other's thought processes quite well. They wanted to trust their friend.
"Anything else? Well, I seemed to be said a bit too much. Hehe..." He laughed self-deprecatingly. Ah, how his comrades wished he'd be truthful to himself. Even though this persona of his is closest to his true self, he's still so humble.
Most of them were already doing conspiracy theories while most had their exe.stoppedworking 'sometimes he said I, while sometimes he says Him...' "What's the connection between you and Mr. Fool?" Alger asked hesitantly. He didn't want to believe his theory. He couldn't be blasphemous against his lord!
The tarot club almost lost their balance at his rashness. The reason most of the Tarot club members were only observing and not taking the initiative to speak was because they revered the Fool, and didn't want to make fool of themselves by speaking without knowing.
If this person's sent by Mr. Fool, then he should be the blessed of the Fool. But how can a mere blessed directly use a deity's powers and even be casual with it? He's not even Gehrman Sparrow, who's supposed to be the Fool's closest blessed! Furthermore, he's so friendly with a Roselle look-alike! As if they're the same level! Something's not right. Alger felt like he should take initiative and ask.
"All of me is him, however not all of him is me." Klein replied with a smile so innocent that sent shivers down the human's and demigod's bodies. "As I said before, the Fool is currently fighting with 'that existence', for that there's nothing any of you could do except watching." With that, he sat in the front row, between Will and Leonard.
"Right, I forgot to mention, I've never lied or intended to deceive any of you, most of this are consequences of your own deductions..." He said calmly. His tone serious and it seemed he wanted to say more but stopped mid sentence.
He looked at the side of the screen, others followed suit and sensed three beings arriving, they were dogs. One was a golden retriever, Susie and the other two had one eye each, the guard hounds of the Sefirah Castle.
Susie ran towards Audrey with her tail tucked between her hind limbs, as soon as she saw her. Audrey only blinked at her sudden appearance, she could clearly sense Susie's fright. The one-eyed black hounds went towards Klein, wagging their tails. They stared at each other for a while. Klein sighed and turned towards Susie, "I apologise for the fright, I didn't expect non-humans would be pulled over here too and didn't guide you here like the others." He bowed slightly, to the dog. "These are the guards here, they meant no harm and only wished to lead you here, not chase you." He explained seriously.
A suspected God, and a certified to be an angel-level being, Klein was talking quite respectfully to Susie, a dog. "I see. I couldn't have known that I apologize as well." Susie said calmly, quickly controlling herself with her spectator powers, bowed and wagged her tail before laying gracefully beside Audrey's feet. 'A dog that can speak!' The audience got another reality check. 'The mysterious world sure is full of mysteries....'
Klein was subconsciously using his fooling abilities to prevent people from thinking too much about his identity before it's revealed to them. There were so many factors that lead him to make choices that he made and it was really a bother to explain them one by one. So, it's better to just see it in person.
"Now that everyone's here, let's start the movie!" Klein said enthusiastically. At least that's what he thought he did. His voice was a bit shaky and nervous. It was a bit too pitched compared to his other statements.
'Cute' thought a certain spectator and a poet as they had better access to Klein's face than other people, the result of sitting in the same row.
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