"Come in, no need to be shy," Philia took him to the living room.
We followed her. I was still wearing pajamas. I could say that it wasn't respectful.
"Take a seat, I will prepare tea and pastry for us to chat," she went off to the kitchen, leaving us alone.
"Please, you can sit first," I suggested.
He looked impressed by me. He gradually sat down on the couch, followed by me.
"Such manners, I'm impressed," he said, respecting me.
"Thank you sir," I responded.
"Talk casually, no need to be so formal," he said.
I noticed his left eye. It was closed all the time. Perhaps, he was partly blind by some accident. His face kept looking at the kitchen.
"She acted differently," he emphasized.
He probably was thinking about her behavior. Now she was filled with grace and joy. His perspective on her could be different.
"Before, she was cold and barely communicated. She often spent her time alone or talking to herself. I'm glad to see her changed," he recounted, with a relieved smile.
I thought the same. She had vastly changed, but was still as fragile as glass. I didn't dive into her thoughts.
"I wish she stayed the same," Sievert kept smiling at me.
I witnessed someone who put their heart into someone. He was adoring her. His smile showed it all.
But in her heart, there was still a crack that couldn't be healed. It might burst. Or it stayed and was forgotten.
"Yeah…" I replied.
Shortly after, Philia came with tea and pastry for us.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," she apologized.
"No problem, take a seat," Sievert replied.
What was their relationship? I couldn't just be a working partner of Histrionic Kin. Since he explained her behavior back then.
"Rirt, are you daydreaming? Take your sip," Philia teased.
"Ah my bad," I took the cup. I sipped it slowly.
"Rirthe Virtanous," suddenly, Sievert mentioned my full name.
It startled me. I moved my gaze to him.
"You shall take the pathway to the divine," he demanded as he ate his pastry.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"Sievert wants you to be part of Histrionic Kin," Philia explained.
Became a Portrayer and joined them? My decision wasn't glued to others. I had no right to obey him.
"Why shall I?" I responded.
"Because I knew your destiny. You can't act by yourself as you are being controlled by 'Those Who
Purify,'" he sipped the tea.
That was wild information. He could make things up to threaten me to follow his wishes. Suddenly, he pulled out a revolver. It seemed familiar, identical to mine. Perhaps, it was.
"I could break it down into half, and see what will happen," he insisted.
It glowed into my sight. The revolver stood out in his hand. It was levitating.
"Try to break it then," I opposed.
He stopped for a second. His eyes stumped. And then he smiled at me, pleasantly.
"You seem more fascinating than I investigated," he grabbed my floating revolver.
"Investigation? Perhaps, it was a setup plan to meet me with Philia. Am I wrong?" I questioned.
"Indeed, but the encounter of The Pierrot and Philia's grief was bound from my plan. Because of the rule of the butterflies," he explained.
Without warning, he threw the revolver at me. I caught it mid-air. Looking at it, he left a scratch of an insignia. It drew comedy and tragedy masks.
"Welcome to the theater," he rejoiced.
"Am I answering your request?" I stared at his eyes.
"You knew you were under the control of 'it,'" he didn't explain any further.
He mentioned "Those Who Purify." The context was unclear yet as he was chatting with Philia. They reglected me.
I was being claimed as a part of them. He recruited me one-sidedly without my approval. Philia, on the other hand, didn't refuse it. The conversation shifted as the hot tea cooled down.
"Which pathway would you choose?" Philia asked.
"Could you clarify it?" I dipped the pastry into the tea and ate it.
As I currently know, there were multiple pathways with different tendencies. Each of them had a layer. Maybe some sort of string like Sievert mentioned.
"To put it simply, it was like a level for a role that you choose. But in the context of your existence," Sievert explained.
"Is it like a religion?" I tried to wipe the mark on the revolver.
"Some sort of that. People like us used to utilize their blessings, not to adore them like cultists. Those were called 'adherents,' as we were being called a 'Portrayer.'" He gave me a sheet of paper.
The paper showed a list of pathways with each of their deities' names. There were fourteen currently mentioned. I read it through. The 'string' blessings for each time we ascended once. But I felt a hole in the schemes.
"Is there a catch?" I asked.
"There is, 'nothing free in this world.' The blessing will create destruction if nothing balances it," He took a sip of tea.
He might have meant that there was an exchange. What was their currency? The deities were a cosmic entity. Pendenty wasn't their trade. They were a manifestation of existence.
"Your own existence," Philia clarified the ambiguity.
Perhaps, Sievert's left eye was the change when he tried to ascend to a higher string. Each pathway might have a different term for defining an exchange.
The Pierrot didn't lose anything physically. His emotion was a lunatic. But Philia didn't show any loss in either of them.
Suddenly, the noise of a bell rang loudly. It came from the grandfather clock. I looked at the time, showing twelve o'clock.
"How fast, maybe I'll see you around," Sievert finished drinking the tea.
"You still have plenty of time, why so in such a rush?" Philia implored.
"There's no need to be so worried Philia, I'll visit you more often," he tried to calm her down.
My curiosity grew deeper between them. A couple, or they might be siblings. But it seemed impossible to dig up, because of their mysterious backstory.
"I guess I need to say goodbye to you too," Sievert suddenly said to me.
"Thank you, even though you recruited me one-sided," I responded.
"Pardon me. Also, really pick your pathway. Since it was a contract between you and the deity." He waved at us and walked off.
To think about it, "Those Who Purify" matched his pathway. The motivation was to bring equality between individuals. And I was being manipulated by him, cleanly.
I could choose between fourteen pathways. Each of them served a purpose, except The Vacuity. It brought nothing. But the Pierrot tried attaching me to it. He said it because of my behavior.
"Hey, do you still want bread?" Philia immediately asked.
"No thanks, now is the time for lunch," I rejected.
Her face looked melancholy and begged my pardon.
"No need to apologize, since his visit was unexpected," I emphasized.
"I'll tell you about his story why I respect him so much," her eyes were glittering and lit up at me.
"You know the pastry can't keep my stomach full," I mumbled a bit at her.