Everyone paused when Mr. Error said that, thinking something similar to Hermione, each in their own tone, 'Mr. Error seems to be in a good mood today? Did something nice happen? But…'
But Mr. Error didn't say anymore after that, leaving everyone to their own devices, as if he couldn't care less and was just watching them as a form of entertainment.
Dominic looked around for a few seconds before placing his question in front of them all, "Do any of you happen to know what's going on with the sudden increase in the number of Demons popping up all around the world?"
But no one said anything, not when he looked at Mr. Moon or even Miss Empress. And when Dominic finally looked at Miss Magician, she just shrugged softly to indicate she knew very little and so Dominic turned directly to Mr. World.
"Perhaps you know something more Mr. World?"
Mr. World paused, then looked at Mr. Error before seeing 'Him' shake his head softly and paused after saying a short sentence without revealing much, "You are not strong enough to know more about the current situation."
"..." Left with a polite rejection Dominic thought for a second before offering, "Is it a matter of price? I can offer you a high price for any relevant information that might help. Does it have something to do with the Great Old Ones?"
Mr. World's body paused for a second, and any competent Spectator would've almost immediately recognised it as shock and surprise, but before anyone else could figure something like that out he continued speaking, "Some things are better left for when you have the power to deal with those situations."
Dominic frowned slightly, a little disappointed as were the other members of the Tarot Club who were hoping to learn more about the situation. But with Mr. Error directly not letting them learn more he stuffed his curiosity into a hole and shut up.
Snape finally looked at Mr. World directly and spoke up calmly, "....what happened to the item you were about to give me?"
Mr. World paused once again, slightly confused as he looked at Mr. Error subtly without letting anyone else realise, before he spoke calmly, "The item will be delivered after you return. What payment would you like in return Mr. Moon?"
Snape looked at Mr. World for a few seconds before turning to Mr. Error and stating his request directly to 'Him'. "I'd like for the deal to take one person of my choosing to the Chaos Sea to include one more."
There was a soft silence in Sefirah Castle making it almost seem like a place of mourning.
Mr. Error's fingers rested on the hard marble surface of the table between them all, 'His' fingers tapping them rhythmically as they followed a set beat before they paused as he spoke up, "That will not be possible since the Chaos Sea has vanished from the world."
The mourning silence of the castle suddenly turned tense as each member of the Tarot Club reacted in their own way with Miss Magician being the most vocal, "...? Vanished? But then how is magic working fine?! Wasn't the Chaos Sea the key to all the magic in the world? Did the recent attack from Voldemort have something to do with this Mr. Error? Did he steal the Chaos Sea? But to do what? Are spells even safe anymore? Perhaps-"
A crisp snap echoed in the Sefirah Castle as Mr. Error flicked his fingers. The result wasn't a commanded or even demanded silence, it was a stolen one. Mr. Error had stolen Miss Magician's voice.
Nearly everyone inside the castle felt their hands draw to their wands, partly out of a reflex but partly because for a moment each one of them truly felt like Mr. Error truly meant harm. But since they remembered their positions in front of a True God at the last moment, they held back, only hoping that Miss Magician wasn't going to be hurt.
And while their thoughts would've continued into a soft culmination of pity for her, it suddenly switched, as if it had been deceived of its original purpose before it was all twisted into a new outcome, 'It was her fault for speaking so much.'
That was when Mr. Error finally spoke up, his tone calm but solemn, "...I'm sorry Miss Magician, but I cannot allow you to think further…this is for your own good…these matters involve beings beyond even Angels, much beyond what a mere Sequence 7 is capable of thinking about."
Hermione paused confused for a second before she nodded.
'Of course Mr. Error only seemed rude. He was just trying to keep me safe…right?'
…
"There's no way he travelled back in time." Rowena said rashly, clipping her nails as she'd chewed them unevenly earlier.
Salazar frowned while everyone else stayed silent.
"But nothing changed!" Rowena spoke up again. "If he'd have gone back…something would've changed! Right? Why go back in time otherwise?!"
"Or maybe he just dropped dead the moment he went back?" Helga suggested helpfully.
"No. I never sensed his death. His imprint isn't even in the River." Godric commented with a shake of his head. With the newly forming silence all their heads turned towards Salazar who was still frowning, staring at the table like his gaze was going to bore a hole through it.
Finally after the silence got a little stale Rowena kicked him under the table.
"What's on your mind, you baldy."
Salazar's brows twitched at that as his head snapped in Rowena's direction looking thoroughly irritated by the tag he was addressed with, "It's because of you!! You witch!!! Because you caused all the earlier Hogwarts students to believe that I was bald and ugly that I became bald and ugly!!! All your fault!!!!!"
Rowena rolled her eyes, "And who told you to leave the school and go around the world on a tour while leaving all the hard work to us?"
Salazar took a deep breath to calm himself as he spoke while exhaling, "I did that to explore the secrets that Mr. Error left behind! Not to go on a relaxing journey to find myself!!!!!"
"And what have you got to show for it?! You didn't even know that he'd travelled back in time to change things up!!! He was a fraud!!!"
Salazar immediately felt enraged, "No he was not!!! And I'm a hundred percent sure he didn't travel back in time!!! No one can!! And not that far back to change the course of the entire world!!! You know that I know that and nearly everyone else does too. If he would've even tried something as ridiculous, he couldn't have done it without leaving our memories intact!!! To even make such a ridiculous claim makes you seem stupid!!"
"But it's 'Him'!" Rowena finally raised her voice, "You know what 'He's like! 'He' does everything 'He' says 'He'll get done. I've hardly ever seen 'Him' fail. And the one time 'He' did, we all paid the price by having to get sealed because of 'His' will re-awakening! So forgive me for believing that 'He' can do what 'He' says 'He' can!"
Salazar frowned. He couldn't argue with Rowena because what she said made sense too. He'd just never seen Mr. Error lie before, what would make it different now? Did he really travel back into the past? If so, how did he do it without messing with the memories of every other True God and Above the Sequence out there?
Helga finally placed her teacup on the saucer before she spoke calmly, "What's there to worry about, all we need to do is infiltrate his little Tarot Club. We know when it happens, we know who takes part in it, now we just need to either infiltrate the club using them, or just send someone new."
"Send someone new." Rowena instantly said, "Infiltration is too risky since he is a master at deceit. The best part would be to let one of your clones go directly into the club Helga."
"One of my clones?" Helga asked slightly surprised, she paused to think for a second before speaking, "Which one? The R.O.B one or Madam Pomfrey? Or Isolt?"
"Not Pomfrey or R.O.B, if you move either of them Merlin will know." Rowena shook her head, "But Isolt will do. How long has it been since you've used her anyway? Don't you need to check on Ilvermorny?"
Helga paused to think for a second, "It's been some time since I checked on that place, I left it in Chadwick's hands when I created R.O.B, and since the place only has Spectators no one should've figured out anything about it anyway."
"Hmm…" Rowena nodded, "Well then we have a perfect character who we can use to infiltrate into the club, Isolt is just a Sequence 5 Dream Walker, nothing too strong to arouse any suspicion. Everything should work just fine."
Rowena then looked at Salazar and he nodded too, adding, "I'll conceal her fate." She then looked at Godric and he too added, "I'll give her a false lifespan. Have just the perfect ordinary life for her of the sister of a Beyonder that went out of control after looking at the Moon at the wrong time."
Rowena closed her eyes and sighed, she then opened them and spoke with authority, "I'll make sure that any knowledge of a relation she might have had with us will be destroyed and will never be found."
The founders all looked at each other with a firm gaze before vanishing from their tea spot. All but one.
Salazar, still sitting in his seat, looked rather solemn.
"....will it work this time?"
"...this is the last try we have Mr. Error."
And with that his body dissolved into darkness.
…
The boy followed the weird looking rat and eventually ended up inside a thick tree whose trunk was as wide as a house enough for a family of twenty two to stay in.
Being from the suburbs and having never seen such a large tree, the boy looked at the tree strangely, wondering if it was the body of Mother Tree of Desire but quickly abandoned the thought once he realised that it didn't have any fleshy organs hanging from it.
As soon as the boy stepped inside, he came across a rather magical scene in front of himself, not one of beauty and awe but one of uniqueness and strange ideas.
The weird rat that the boy had been following jumped into the open mouth of a dog, vanishing into his teeth as if that were its home. The teeth weren't particularly big too, only about as big as the boy himself, nearly five feet in height. A reasonably sized tooth on a dog that was nearly sixteen times the size.
It drooled dangerously but the boy showed no fear, instead speaking out loud like he were speaking to a puppy, since the dog looked enchanted with the boy himself, almost smitten if its tail wags producing a short duststorm were anything to go by.
"Awee~!!! Such a cute doggy!!! Come give me a kissy!!! Muah! Muah! Muah! Muah~!" the boy kissed the dog's rather large snoot, stroking its fur as the dog embraced the boy with obvious joy. Its pupils dilated slightly as its head tilted to the side, almost pushing into the boy's pats and scratches regardless of its terrifying size.
Every single wag of its tail sent dirt and dust flying everywhere while its small enthusiastic jumps caused tremors to travel all around, all of it stopping only when the boy was finally picked up by the dog, pinched between its teeth and thrown on top of its head.
The boy then heard a rather sudden excited howl from the dog before it jumped into what the boy could only describe as a rush of darkness that surrounded them from all sides.
Except they didn't arrive anywhere in particular afterwards.
They remained inside it, as if the darkness itself were their destination.
They travelled together in the darkness, with the boy only being able to distinguish things through their vague silhouettes by gazing upon the starlight that occasionally glimmered high above in the darkness, making the edges of things glimmer softly like an eclipse ring.
The dog's speed was unimaginable to the boy, entire mountains seemed to pass in single leaps, as if they were but pebbles tossed to the side of a road. The boy even felt they were moving at speeds to cross entire civilizations, but there wasn't enough light for him to see clearly.
Even still, like all journeys come to an end, theirs came to one with the dog lying down recumbent, its fluffy tails swishing about lazily as it spoke in an almost wise but deep tone, "Reclaim your throne, master."
"Huh?" the boy seemed surprised but he still slowly slid down the dog's furry head, already missing the comfortable warmth it provided but still moving towards the single starlike brilliance showing ahead.
Because of the sharp contrast of darkness, it took the boy's eyes a little bit to adjust, but he quickly did and what he saw surprised him greatly.
"A potion? A Beyonder potion? For what pathway? Sequence 9 right? Darkness, you're Amanises?" The boy quickly turned around to look at the dog once again, only to find himself inside the real world again.
He was standing on the cliff of an unassuming forest, inside an unassuming hiking cabin, in which sitting on a table was the potion that he'd just been led to.
'...'
The boy walked up to the table and looked at the potion, then he looked around once again but couldn't find anyone else present there.
He peered out the window, trying to see if there was a village in the valley down below but the darkness of the night and the lack of any lights only made him think that not a single life lived down below.
'How did I end up in this place…'
'I had a giant pet dog…likely Amanises, but then it was a boy I think, so not Amanises? Or maybe Amanises is actually a crossdresser? Maybe Amanises is just playing with me? Amanises, Amanises, Amanises, Amanises.'
"Amanises is a transmigrator."
"Adam."
"Amon."
"Leodero."
"...."
The result was only absolute silence.
"...Where am I? Why am I here…?"
"sigh, alright, I'm either in the Forsaken Land Of Gods, or in an entirely different world that is just similar to LOTM in some way…"
The boy looked at the potion in front of him before picking it up.
"...don't I need to have humanity to drink a potion and maintain my sanity?"
"Then shouldn't I give myself a name?"
"Alright, my name will be…..Loki? Yep, Loki sounds good. It sounds like a name a kind person would have."
And so, Loki consumed the potion for the first time ever, becoming a beyonder of the-
"...Marauder? Error pathway?" Loki deduced as his mind grasped the sudden rush of information about his abilities he received as a Beyonder.
"Huh~..."
Loki yawned softly, tired from having just consumed a potion and from his unfamiliar surroundings. He decided he would explore the area in the morning when there was some light to drive away the impenetrable darkness and fell asleep in the cabin by wrapping himself in a thick animal fur coat he found inside it.
Waking up was not pleasant business.
At least not when someone drops a bucket of cold water all over your head.
"BAAHHH~!!!!" Loki awoke with a start, the fur had protected most of his body, but his head was drenched, and it felt as if someone had dunked it in ice cold water, at least that was what Loki assumed since he saw chunks of ice crystals floating in the fresh pools of water around him. "Who- Wha-"
"That question's mine boy. Who're ye and what're ye doing here, in these woods? All alone? What happened to yer' little mummy and daddy that ye had to sell your pretty bones in this valley?"
Loki paused, reeled the words of the man in front of him. His eyes blinked rapidly, adjusting to the light when he took in the image of the man standing in front of him.
'A bow and a short knife? A hunter?'
Loki rewound back to the man's words back in his mind for a second before letting them play back again, as he mumbled, "What year is it here? Am I in the medieval period?"
"Medieval!?" The gruff old man asked with mock offence, "Boy there ain't a time like right now!! Mad creatures running about all over the world, breeding rocks, plants and every other thing that lays still for a second whether to sleep for a while or forever!! The world is fresh! Born anew where nothing of the old remains!!! And ye just called her medieval!?"
Loki looked at the man, his surprisingly quick mind trying to continuously kick back the man's accent and understand his words.
'So…is that why no one responded to me when I called their names out before? Because we're in the First or the very start of the Second Epoch? When no True Gods have been born yet and the Sefirah Castle hasn't released its reincarnates yet? So Amon and Adam are just not born yet since Girisha hasn't been released?'
'But then that wolf…of the darkness pathway…who was he if not Amanises?'
The cold water from before slowly dripped from Loki's hair and fell onto his back, causing him to shiver involuntarily before he looked back at the old gruff man and spoke gentlemanly, "I come from a land beyond thine. A land where man is no slave to madness and where people conquer it to slay their foes, to protect those in need and those with greed."
"...greed?" The old man raised his brows, causing Loki to nod before speaking, "Greed to live."
Loki's response caused the man to finally smile, "Oh? And so are ye greedy to live?"
Loki shrugged his shoulders and explained, "An explorer by profession but a thief by creed. I love to steal life but that's just me. The name's Loki, I wonder if you'll part with some food for me."
"Steal life?" the old man asked with a smile as if expecting a certain answer and Loki didn't disappoint, he replied almost immediately, "The lives of those creatures you call mad. I even have a saner one of those kinds as my pet. Although, I seem to have lost it for now…"
"Those things? Sane? And as a pet!? I don't believe ye!" the old man laughed, extending a hand that Loki grabbed and stood up. "Next ye'll lay claim that thine brother is thine father!"
Loki's eyes widened in mock surprise, "How did you know!" before they looked at each other for a second as they broke out into fits of laughter, walking out of the cabin and towards the valley that now seemed full of life.
…
As soon as everyone was kicked out of the Sefirah Castle it fell into a dull silence.
Mr. World looked up at Mr. Error and spoke softly, "How do they even know about 'Them'? Shouldn't they have died after learning about 'Them' or at least be corrupted in some way?'
Mr. Error's fingers tapped the table while he thought things through slowly. He then looked around at the Sefirah Castle and then at the grey fog that was swirling around 'Him' before speaking up, "Maybe it's just the secretive nature of the Sefirah Castle."
Although it was an answer, neither Mr. Error nor Mr. World was convinced enough by the reasoning. After all, even if the Sefirah Castle could save them while they were inside it, they'd have died almost instantly once they left it.
Putting the matter aside, Mr. World spoke up again, "Was it reasonable to let them know about the Chaos Sea vanishing? Especially since Merlin is partly under your control now?"
Mr. Error drummed his fingers again and nodded. "I only wanted to steal the man called Mr. Moon's knowledge regarding the chaos sea to see what all in the Tarot Club knew about it, given that they already knew about the Great Old Ones…"
There was a short pause as Mr. Error seemed to go silent but the meaning was clear to Mr. World, "I just didn't think they knew so much more…"
"Do you think...is it a trap?" Mr. World asked softly, his fingers wrapping around the edge of the table.
Mr. Error's response was almost immediate, "No. Trap? He's gone. I killed him. I took his place entirely even before he became a True God. He has no way to come back. It would've been different if he was a Pillar. That might've left an impression on the Characteristics that I'd have to deal with and absorb fully now. But him? A mere Sequence 3? He's dead, more than dead. I replaced him. Fully."
There was a soft silence for a second before Mr. World spoke up again, "....but his memories…we didn't get them…"
Mr. Error paused momentarily at the mention but he spoke immediately after, "He managed to erase them and given the look he gave me right before he did it, I think he was only trying to annoy me. The last claw of a dying prey."
Mr. World nodded before standing up and bowing deeply, "Praise Mr. Error." before his connection to the Sefirah Castle was cut off by a wave of Mr. Error's hands.
Left alone, Mr. Error's gaze turned to a corner in the Sefirah Castle that obscured something under a thick layer of the Grey Fog.
His gaze was enough to part the fog as the True Creator became visible behind it.
Holding him back this time were not chains from the Chained god, but various unrecognisable errors that formed a seal embedded directly within 'His' body.
The True Creator couldn't speak, make a sound or even twitch. It looked like he was frozen, both in space and in time.
Mr. Error raised his hand in the True Creator's direction, causing the seal to twist for a moment before an orb of white light shot out of the True Creator and towards Mr. Error.
Mr. Error held the orb of light in between his fingers, watching it slowly shifting as a prominent rune appeared on the surface, the Fool pathway symbolism, before it shifted into a miniaturised Beyonder Characteristic that looked much like a translucent curtain that looked nearly invisible.
Mr. Error looked at it for a few seconds, enamoured by its appearance before tossing it back into the True Creator's body. There was an almost unwilling expression as he did so. The greed in his eyes was undeniable, almost uncontrollable, but still held back.
"Not time yet. Not time yet. I need to get Fate on my side before I can accommodate the other pathways…"
…
Walburga looked at the new report she'd gotten with some confusion.
'I asked them to follow and keep track of those mad flesh eating barbarians from the Aurora Order?'
'...why?'
She frowned for a while, trying to remember something she seemed to be forgetting, trying to understand what it was, 'Is age catching up to me?'
KnockKnock
Walburga's brows raised at the unscheduled knock on her door but she flicked her hand and caused the door to swing open anyway, only to feel a lot more surprised by the unannounced visit of her current guest.
"Amelia?"
The person outside the door smiled warmly before coming inside when Walburga welcomed her into her office.
"To what do I owe you this pleasure?" Sitting calmly in their seats Walburga asked Bones after Kreacher left them with a few fish and chips along with some tea.
Bones looked around for a while, as if admiring Walburga's office or rather its macabre setting with books on dark magic related to the soul and rituals corresponding to evil entities and the like openly displayed without any hesitation.
Only after a few seconds passed and each of them had taken a sip out of their cups did she speak up, "Something's wrong with this house."
"...huh?" Walburga frowned.
"I don't know what it is, yet, but there is a distinct imbalance of chaos and order in the fates of all related to the house. It feels like someone has deliberately tipped things in favour of order."
"Order? House Black?" Walburga frowned, "And isn't that good for you anyway?"
Amelila shook her head softly, her gaze turning rather strange as she spoke with a little confusion, "I can tell it tips towards order…but it feels like someone's only bottled up the chaos to make it appear orderly…as if someone's tried to trap chaos in a jar and then stored it on a shelf somewhere…"
"Like a landmine?"
"...well something like that…as I feel it, House Black currently feels more like a taught string on a bow…set to release and take a lot more down with it than just order."
Walburga's gaze fell on the report that she'd hidden away in her drawer when she allowed Amelia inside, thinking if this had something to do with it before she asked calmly, "Is it related to Sirius?"
Amelia opened her mouth to speak but then stopped, confusion apparent as she couldn't seem to decide on a single answer.
In the end she settled on a rather strange set of words that repeated the earlier conclusions in an almost prophetic way, "He will part from the bottled up chaos and is waiting for the right moment."
Walburga frowned.
Was House Black being involved in some conspiracy she hadn't figured out? That Mr. Error that Sirius had introduced her to? Was he going to do something to them?
'...'
First it was Dumbledore and Grindelwald…now it was someone who was seemingly a friend that looked to be stabbing them in their backs…
But she wouldn't be a Black if she wouldn't fight back.
Walburga knew she couldn't contend with such a force alone and so she decided to gather allies.
"I have information about this rather strange…god…."
Amelia deadpanned.
Her gaze lingering on the several hundreds of books on evil gods displayed openly before looking back at a proud Walburga who explained, "Well this one's not on the wall…Sirius told me about 'Him'...apparently 'He' is also against the White Lord and his lapdog."
Amelia's gaze sharpened, "....you have my attention."
…
Having returned to his cabin at the end of the day after meeting various people in the valley during the day with his new friend, Loki was only more confused.
He'd learnt several things about this world but he couldn't fully piece it all together.
"This clearly is not the fifth epoch in LOTM…since there are no Orthodox God Characters…"
"Even the moon is not crimson…at least not yet. So Mother Goddess of Depravity hasn't planted herself on the far side."
"But wasn't she here during the very start when 'Her' sefirot was ripped from 'Her' when the Original Creator Woke up and plunged the world into Chaos?"
"....and the biggest hint of all that these characters don't exist is that I get zero corruption from thinking about them…in fact if they did exist, at least even the outer gods, I would've died a hundred times over already since the moment I appeared here."
'...'
"This feels like it's getting complicated…where exactly am I? Why am I even here in the first place? Just because I did the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth Ritual?"
Loki found himself feeling a little weirded out.
"I can't have been the only person in the world that tried the ritual right? So why was I chosen for this?"
"....should I try the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth Ritual again? Does he even exist in this world?"
"Well no harm in trying since I can't get corrupted at all apparantly…"
Loki stood up from his borrowed fur sleeping bag that was arranged on the floor around the firepit in the cabin to keep him warm during the night.
He picked up the various foods the villagers of the valley had given to him during the day and placed them at the four corners of the cabin.
He then took four steps counter clockwise and chanted the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth ritual lines exactly like Klein had.
Each step that Loki took he found himself feeling more nervous and wrought with a deep sense of anticipation.
Only when he took the fourth and final step, nothing happened.
"..."
Loki looked at the food around the room and frowned, "Perhaps the Celestial Worthy doesn't like berries and rare cooked meat?"
As absurd as the reason was Loki couldn't think of anything else.
'It's not like the Sefirah Castle itself doesn't exist….right?'
Loki frowned.
'Wait a second…if no Sefirots exist…then Mother Goddess of Depravity wouldn't have a reason to come to Earth since it wouldn't have been ripped from her, so no crimson moon…'
'Are there really no Sefirot?'
'Am I truly in some different world where there are just mad creatures all across the continents and the world has been plunged back into the era of hunters and gatherers?'
'Perhaps this is some f'ed up version of a parallel Earth with a Zombie apocalypse where creatures mutate and have gotten powers like LOTM?'
Loki shook his head immediately, he didn't have any proof but he distinctly felt that that wasn't the case.
Something was still wrong with this world.
And Loki couldn't put his finger on it.
Not yet.
…