"TELL ME, CARLOS OF MOONIER EMPIRE, THE DESCENDENT OF LILIAN MOONIER, THE LION OF THE EAST…."
"WILL YOU CHOOSE US AS YOUR SUPPORTER AND LET US SEE THROUGH YOUR STORY?
This time, the words were a tidal war, they slammed into the air, echoing off the marble columns and the ceilings until the entire hall seemed to shake with the desperate question. Dust drifted from the heights above. The god's voice had already echoed the wall in the first place but now that the god is shouting, Carlos cannot even understand his words anymore. He only knows that his ears are vibrating as the god speaks. Yet his face still looked motionless as he listened to the echoed sound that returned back to him. And Carlos was so grateful that his face was already used to this motionless face because of that annoying Kave. And Carlos was so grateful that his brother had made his palace into an isolated palace with no servants only because his brother thought that Carlos would like to be alone. Or else there is no way that this kind of voice would not make every servant into a big chaos and Carlos really doesn't want that.
"Why are you making a fuse as if your voice is not already loud enough"
"OH, sorry i didn't know my voice would make this palace shake" the god said.
"Your palace is not good"
"No shit, it really made it shake"
"In my past life, I didn't even know my palace can shake like that"
"I am sorry, I didn't know"
"It is okay, after all i also didn't know the gods can apologize"
"....."
"..."
"You know, you haven't answer our question, though"
"If i said NO, would you let the world as is right now"
"Well, this is a gift for you as you become our temporary mask. So, yes we would let the world be right now. But…"
"But?"
"We might go to the other world instead of stay in this world out of embarrassment of reject"
"And the world can exist only when we were dreaming this world so …this world might not exist anymore"
The god's voice becomes smaller and smaller as they speak and in the last sentence the voice becomes a whisper. And Carlos never really knew that god can whisper like this as they were always so full in their words and voice. Everyday brings surprises after all. And Carlos imagined the whisper is out of guilt.
"Hhh…" Carlos sighs.
"You don't need to be like that"
"After all I also don't have a choice, I can't defeat Erevan's goddess if I don't have a god myself."
"So, YES i will choose you as my supporter and let you see through my story, and you will give me every single help to support my story"
"I see." the god speaks.
"Then our contract will be set in time and dream."
"After all We Both Will Use Each Other."
"And do you have a problem with that?"
"No, No not at all."
"After all, I like when someone is playing hard to get."
"Tch…you sound creepy"
"Ha ha"
"Are We?"
"Well,we just hope that one day you might learn to believe in us and…."
"Think of us as a part of you mortals' so-called family too."
For a heartbeat, silence held—stretched taut like a wire ready to snap.
"Family is a dangerous word, we are just using each other." Carlos snapped back. "You and I should know our place."
" …..And families don't use each other," the words cracked out of Carlos' like a whip. And the god didn't speak back.Carlos hand curled into fists at his side. His breath is shocking.
A moment later, hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor. A voice muffled but urgent, called through the door.
"My lord, are you alright? I feel the palace tremble all the way from the King's chambers. His Majesty—the king is worried and asks if you are unharmed!"
The person outside the room is waiting desperately for Carlos's response and ready to come in. His breath shaking can be heard even through the door, Carlos thought. His brother might have rushed this person to come all the way.
But Carlos didn't look at the door nor spoke back to the door, he kept his eyes locked on the wall, as if the god was there sitting in front of him and mocking him about family. And looking at the wall as if the wall is his greatest enemy. And the god kept quiet, not speaking even a moment.
The room fell silent.
The god's voice disappear for a long time and then—
"I Understand."
"It Is Hard To Think Of Me Like That When Your Last Life Is Full Of Misery Because Of Us."
"But Even So We Are Going To Be Stick With Each Other For A Long Time."
"So, I Hope You Learn To Trust Me"
But Carlos didn't speak back.
"Well, I Will Be Watching You"
"If You Need Help, You Just Need Called Me"
And the god's voice was already ready to disappear into thin air. But Carlos interrupted it with a sentence.
"And what do I call you?"
And for a minute Carlos was pretty sure he heard the god's laugh.
"Ole.."
With the gentle whisper, the god's voice disappears completely.
"Ole…hmm" as Carlos was thinking, the golden box appear in front of him, and is saying
_____________________________________
"Don't worry, we are always watching you."
______________________________________
____________________________________________________________
It is just that when you fight, we can't help you unless you call for help.
____________________________________________________________
Carlos just watched the screen as if the god was playing a great joke to make him insane.
The god really is not going to leave him alone with the golden box and he is pretty sure he can only see it as the god's golden box is shiny as fuck that even the king's chambers might have seen if they can. Sometimes Carlos should be glad this god didn't take his brother as their mask. Or with Carlos' brother's eyes, Carlos was pretty sure Erevan's eyes would go blind. Wait, did his brother die in the past? Carlos doesn't know at all. The only thing Carlos remembers is that a shadow killed him, and the world turns black. I hope my brother didn't die. Maybe the shadow was there to protect his brother. That is not likely to happen. But if the shadow is fast enough to kill Carlos, it would not be a problem to kill his brother who is already coughing blood. Even if his brother survived, he would die for losing so much blood. No matter what his brother's life sucked. His brother is set to die.
But this time Carlos won't let that happen. He knows that his brother's heart becomes more and more in a worse state starting from when his brother had chosen the goddess in the past, this time Carlos won't let that happen, not again. Even if Carlos had to die preventing it, he would never let his brother choose that goddess again. No way, that goddess was his brother's ticket to straight to death.
As Carlos was thinking, the loud knock was heard by Carlos. And a desperate voice followed—
"My Lord?"
"Are you okay, My lord? You are not answering any of my questions, My Lord. Are you hurt?"
" Should I come in, My Lord?"
Carlos hasn't listened to that voice well, but now that he listened it clearly—-Carlos feels something shifted in his eyes by that voice—-not just anger, but with an older, deeper, it is a regret that had long since dried into scars.
The name in that voice, the way he said "My Lord"...
Carlos swallowed.
Slowly with a breath like dragging bloods from his throat, he whisper:
"Kave."
He turned, finally facing the door. The silhouette beyond the crack in the frame was tall, solid__unmistakable. The way he stood, the way he waited like a shield and trying to be a sword for Carlos.
Carlos' voice faltered, only for a second.
"Of course, it is you…."
He glanced over the golden box in front of him and said…
'Disappear.."
____
Fine.
—----
Because outside of the door stood the man Carlos had once called brother in all but blood—-the one he'd betrayed, the one he'd killed, for the sake of the throne that is not even his own. He had killed his family for his other family.
And now the same man waited for him to speak, loyal as ever. And Carlos doesn't need a stranger in this conversion.