Lord of Mysteries: Reawakened

After Alger and Audrey had left, Klein had stayed in Sefirah Castle for sometime as he heard the various prayers from the City of Silver and also Moon City in Bayam.

This stabilized his condition even more, but it wasn't to the point where he was completely fine. If he got into a fight with a True Deity, there was a good chance of him losing control. Even Amon, if he played his cards right like how he did when Klein first converted the City of Silver, was able to a lot of damage.

Klein rubbed his temples as he dismissed those thoughts. While he waited for Evernight to contact him once more regarding Pallez' Sequence 1 characteristic, he decided to recreate the Tarot Club—however doing it much faster. He also decided to gain as much believers as possible by allowing Alger to find 'the crazy adventurer' at sea.

Knowing this, Klein had split off some Worms of Spirit from his Mythical Creature body to personally respond to the main Tarot Club members when they pray—notably Audrey, Alger, and Derrick so far. When the other members join, Klein will specifically split off Worms of Spirit for them as well.

This would be so that he could respond to them personally, instead of automatically.

Feeling curious, Klein had decided to look through his marionette that was currently 'acting' as the Klein Moretti of the past. Since Klein had inserted a Worms of Spirit and 'Fooled' the world into actually believing that the marionette was Klein, by all intents and purposes, the marionette was actually Klein Moretti.

This Klein was now currently going through investigations by the Nighthawks: Dunn Smith, Madam Daly, and Leonard Mitchell.

Klein looked with a soft, almost pained expression as he watched through the eyes of this Klein Moretti. He felt trapped, despite being able to control the entire fate of Tingen, including himself.

But he didn't change anything. He still allowed everything to play out the same. He even watched as 'himself' talked and enjoyed moments with his family—Melissa and Benson Moretti.

Melissa's smile, Benson's receding hairline, Dunn Smith's forgetting nature, Daly's freaky tendencies, Leonard's protagonist complex…

Klein almost couldn't handle such scenes anymore. With his humanity still holding on, his eyes began to well up with water.

However, it was interrupted by hearing certain prayers from two people. The voices were male and female. It was Alger and Audrey, and they had finally finished chanting The Fool's honorific name.

Strangely enough, this lightened Klein's mood. Feeling a little softer, he decided to truly enhance the special effects of his response, looking to be amused by their reactions.

Using the facial control of a Clown, Klein deepened his voice, saying, "I'm aware."

Then, he sat back on The Fool's high-back chair with a smile as he looked at Alger's horrified reaction—to the point where he even fell on his behind, and Audrey's confused, shocked, and amazed reaction—where she whispered to herself: "Praise Mr. Fool!"

In that moment, Klein felt a little better about still allowing Audrey to become a Beyonder.

Reassuring himself, he said while still looking at their reactions, "If I didn't allow her to become a Beyonder through the Tarot Club, she would have done it eventually."

"But by doing it this way, I'd be able to protect her until she becomes strong enough."

"It's only a fair and equal exchange, right…"

Smiling, he stayed in Sefirah Castle as he made a marionette out of a subatomic particle in the air that was at sea.

Using his powers as a Marionettest and a Faceless, he turned this 'air' particle to have an appearance of a human being. He then modified its appearance to be tall, well-built, have dark hair and cold eyes. Then, a trench coat with a vested suit appeared on the marionette.

Finishing it off, Klein also used the powers of an Attendant of Mysteries to 'Graft' a certain Sealed Artifact into existence, wearing it on the marionette's hand.

Of course, this was Creeping Hunger.

He had also done the same for another weapon, the Death Knell.

Using Worms of Spirit and 'Fooling', Klein had made this marionette into Gehrman Sparrow, the crazy adventurer.

Now, Gehrman Sparrow was walking on water, looking around, as if he was looking for something.

…

In the Astral World, at the past Evernight's Kingdom.

The Evernight in the future, the one who had finally become Eternal Darkness, had stepped onto the slumber flowers and night vanilla.

The Evernight Goddess of the past had immediately recognized who had stepped foot in 'Her' kingdom due to the convergence of Beyonder characteristics.

Immediately, 'She' transformed into her giant form, holding a dark, ethereal scythe with her dark, monster-like arms.

As she soundlessly stepped to meet the intruder, 'Her' face visibly contorted as 'She' saw 'Herself', looking up at 'Her' with a calm, unbothered expression.

She paused, almost dumbfounded. Then, 'She' muttered, "An illusion?"

Evernight, who was now Eternal Darkness, replied, "No. I am you from the future, Amanises."

"Or should I say, ——————"

The Evernight of the past froze, almost comically, once 'She' heard 'Her' real name. As the Mother of Concealment, there was no way for any existence to truly know 'Her' real name.

Softening her expression after a few seconds of contemplation, the past Evernight shrunk into her human form as she walked up to the future Evernight.

Immediately, she asked to her future self, "What happened? How is it possible that you're here?"

Eternal Darkness had responded, "It's because of the Lord of Mysteries."

Evernight paused again, turning her head to the side. In a strangely humane fashion, 'She' placed 'Her' hand on 'Her' chin, appearing visibly disturbed.

This was natural. The Evernight Goddess had made plans for thousands of years to foster a new Lord of Mysteries. When confronted with the reality that 'He' had caused something as terrifying as an error in time, 'She' could've only felt a sense of guilt and fear.

Trying to get a grasp of the situation, Evernight had said, "I knew something was off when Klein Moretti first left. It felt like he had turned into a puppet…"

"Did my plan truly not work? What went wrong?"

Eternal Darkness sighed softly as she reassured 'Her' past self.

"Well, fortunately, our plan did work. But you should know that 'He', the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth, moves very shamelessly."

"Right before Klein would've become a Lord of Mysteries, the Celestial Worthy had caused an error in time as a last ditch attempt to save 'Himself'."

"That's why I'm here, and that's why the future Klein, The Fool, is also here."

Evernight paused once more, letting the ethereal silence of the Astral World take her place.

After sometime, 'She' asked, "So, you came here to me in order to make Klein a Lord of Mysteries once more in order to fix the error in time? As for how you came here, is it because you made a spiritual connection with Klein through the River of Eternal Darkness?"

Eternal Darkness nodded. 'She' almost chuckled as 'She' replied, "Correct. You know me very well."

"But, more specifically, I came here to you also to discuss our meeting with the other orthodox Gods. As you know, in order to make Klein a Lord of Mysteries, we would need to save Bethel from the Mother Goddess of Depravity."

The Evernight Goddess rested her chin on her palm. "It's going to be hard for us to come to an agreement. You should know that, especially since you seem to have become a Great Old One."

"I'm not sure how the God of Combat is going to react to such things. 'He' might not even participate, out of protest."

Eternal Darkness agreed with 'Her' past's assessment. Fortunately, 'She' had already thought about this.

"We certainly don't need the God of Combat. We could force other existences, like Cheek, or breed other angels into becoming Gods, like a certain Snake of Mercury—Will Auceptin."

"Regardless, I will conceal my Twilight Giant characteristics. 'He' would never be able to know."

Evernight caressed her cheek slowly, pondering on her future counterpart's words.

Fortunately, 'She' had no objection. 'She' straightened 'Her' head as 'She' said with a smile, "Understood. I will also allow Klein to grab Pallez's Sequence 1 Characteristic. Of course, I will explain this entire situation to 'Him'."

Eternal Darkness smiled in return. "Thank you, my past me."

Then, Evernight had suddenly asked, "Since I've always wanted to do this, how are things going, future me?"

Eternal Darkness paused as her mouth widened slightly. Chuckling, she replied, "Hehe. Things are going well, aside from the fact that the universe has a chance of completely collapsing."

Evernight giggled in return.

If one were to see this sudden showcase of humanity by these two gods, they too will also laugh—sensing the absurdity of it all.

Enjoying 'Herself' for a moment, Eternal Darkness finally darkened 'Her' expression as 'Her' tone got more serious.

"It's time for me to go back to the future. Using Klein's connection to Sefirah Castle and the Spirit World, I'm able to travel seamlessly."

"Klein isn't able to do so despite owning Sefirah Castle, again because of Celestial Worthy."

Evernight nodded as she approached 'Her' future self, Eternal Darkness. 'She' seemed almost encapsulated by the fact that 'She' had finally become a Great Old One. This was a curse and a blessing: 'She' was a Great Old One, but that also meant that the Apocalypse was rapidly approaching.

With a soft voice, 'She' consoled her future self, "Good luck."

Eternal Darkness gave a soft smile as 'Her' figure gradually disappeared.

…

Tingen City, near Iron Cross Street.

"To the pier outside the city." Klein said to the carriage driver as he stepped inside of it.

"Alrighty." The carriage driver tugged at the reins.

As the carriage driver moved, Klein felt a strange feeling well up inside of him. Immediately, he tried to blame the feeling due to the carriage driver, but an illusory feeling rejected that proposal.

It was as if it said, "No, it was not due to the carriage driver."

"It was due to someone, something outside."

Feeling chills run down his spine, he slowly approached the carriage window as he basically ignored where the carriage driver had went—despite him diverting the path to not go outside of the city.

Out of the window, Klein saw the usual. Loen-styled building and people walking to and fro in Loen-styled clothes, carriages, entertainment centers, people playing board games created by Roselle…

Then, he saw something extremely peculiar.

A poster boy who was staring straight at him.

And, as if time had stopped itself, the poster boy had curled his lips up as he placed a monocle on his right eye.

Then strangely, despite him whispering, Klein could've heard him.

"You're in a dream, controlled by a strange, unknown existence, Klein Moretti."

"Do you want me to help you get out?"

…

In a Tingen suburb. There was a house with a green lawn, and it had a crimson chimney. It was night, and the crimson moon ominously hovered over the sky.

Inside of the house, there was a pale man wearing blonde hair and a thick, golden beard. He had on a white priest's robe, holding a silver cross in one hand. His temperament was calm and tranquil as he sat inside of a certain apartment, not caring that a pale body had laid next to him.

There, he held an ordinary looking quill as he looked down at an ordinary book. He read certain lines with a soft expression, as if he himself had caused it:

"Due to certain circumstances caused by the Angel of Imagination Adam, the Angel of Time Amon had left the Forsaken Land of the Gods, making his way over toward Tingen City. A risk indeed, but it was a calculated risk!"

"…"

"…At the same time, due to the Beyonder Convergence of Characteristics, Adam was drawn towards the Quill of Alzuhod. At the same time, the quill was also drawn towards Adam…"

"…Due to certain circumstances, the one who held the quill, Ince Zangwill, had died of a heart attack due to his not-so-good diet. Because of this, Adam had now made himself the owner of the Quill of Alzuhod."

"This was indeed a reasonable development!"