The creaking of a door rubbed against Luke's ears, as if the hinges had been gaining rust for centuries.
The windows were banging against the frame, the window-panes rattling against the storm.
Someone, somewhere, unlatched a wooden chest, the top coming off. Through the small opening, blood came pouring out, pooling on the floor.
Then, suddenly, Luke was on the moon, an ancient blackness surrounding him.
He was staring at a door, just randomly propped in the middle of nowhere without a frame, with a bronze knob.
As if driven by an unquestionable and irresistible impulse, Luke stepped forward, held the doorknob, and twisted.
And thin, wrinkly fingers came slithering through the gap from the other side, the entire Cosmos whispering madness — chilling Luke's soul with a primal terror.
…
Gasp!
Luke's eyes threw open with a gasp, his hands flapping in all directions as if he was trying to close the door.
But all he found was a terrified Nyx, cawing out his name in hushes, slamming his chest with her wings.
"What the fuck, Luke?!" Nyx hissed, scared beyond imagination. "What the fuck?!"
Knock-Knock!!
Luke and Nyx's heads snapped toward the bathroom door.
"Luke, are you alright?" Momo asked from the other side.
Luke and Nyx shared a glance, trying their best to regain their composure.
Then, Nyx flew to the bathroom door and reached out to grab the knob, hoping to see if Momo was alone or with bodyguards on the other side.
Suddenly, in Luke's mind, the vision he just had replayed itself.
With a great urgency, as if gripped by madness, he rushed and pulled Nyx away from the door.
"… Yeah," he stuttered, noticing the quiver in his voice. "I think I ate something bad in the morning… Sorry."
"… Alright," Momo said. "We are in the hall."
"OK," Luke said, holding Nyx away from the door.
When they heard Momo going back, Luke finally let Nyx go.
Before she could explode on him, though, she noticed Luke was sweating a bucket, his eyes losing focus now and then. "Oi… are you alright?"
Luke returned to the toilet seat.
[… Come on, Luke! Tell us what happened?!]
Taking a deep breath, Luke began telling them the vision he had right after drinking the Astrologer Potion.
The more he talked, the more Miss Justice and Nyx lost their curiosities, both quieting with horror.
Combined with Luke's first meeting with Singularity, while manipulating his father's dream, and then Conformity, while using Dream Divination, this was the third time he had experienced the true scale of a Cosmic Horror.
"… Miss Justice…" Luke asked, trying to Cogitate. But the moment his eyes landed on the doorknob, he lost even Momo's image from his mind. "Am I still… dreaming?"
[… No… No. This shouldn't be… He… No. Luke. Hurry. Pray for Mr. Fool's blessing…]
As a precaution, to not alarm anyone in case something went wrong, or attract any unwanted attention, Nyx had already covered the space within the bathroom under a Wall of Spirituality before Luke had consumed the potion.
So, licking his lips and sensing the blatant hesitation in Miss Justice's reply, Luke and Nyx hurriedly set up the ritual.
…
The Fool that doesn't belong to this era;
The Mysterious Ruler above the gray fog;
The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck
I pray for your help.
I pray for your loving grace…
…
Luke briefly mentioned his dream and asked for Mr. Fool's blessing.
However, neither Luke nor Nyx nor even Miss Justice was optimistic about getting Mr. Fool's reply.
In the last Tarot Club gathering, the members had exclusively mentioned that because of Mr. Fool's unusual state, He might not reply as fast as before.
So, when the space exploded with an unmatched brightness in front of Luke, his blue eyes almost exploded out of his skull.
From the burgeoning flame, a titanic, flaming, twelve-winged Angel descended and embraced a shocked Luke within its arms and wings.
Even Nyx, watching from the sides, just gawked at the sight with pure disbelief, her beak remaining open.
Then, slowly, the heat within the bathroom lessened, and the Angel disappeared, leaving behind a thin, flaming layer over Luke.
And, for the first time after waking up, Luke finally gained comfort, the unknown whispers rocking his brain quietening before vanishing altogether.
Luke and Nyx stared at each other for a moment.
Then, together, they put their hands on their chests and thanked Mr. Fool.
…
A few moments before,
Moon
[This can't be…] The mysterious existence next to the black-haired man mumbled. [It's coming from the planet.]
The man with curly, black hair, a pointy hat, and a black coat was casually seated at the top of a moon's hill, eying Earth with a deadpan expression.
Hearing the mysterious existence's words, which came out of nowhere, the man's expression changed.
[No. Amon. Wait!] The existence cried.
Ignoring Him, The God of Mischief pinched His right eye.
In the next moment, He appeared in front of The Boundary between the moon and the planet.
The Boundary, though invisible, was not intangible. It was like an invisible sheet of a balloon, covering the entire planet from all directions.
So, as Amon put His hand on The Boundary, the entire space caved in, a massive handprint appearing on the other side.
It was like a giant, the size of the moon, was pressing into the space, bending the starlight around the tips of its fingers.
[… Hurry!] The existence urged. [You cannot…]
Tiny hands of a clock appeared in Amon's eyes, a massive clock manifesting behind His back as well.
The minute hand of the clock suddenly went back, a metallic thud echoing in the emptiness of the space.
Simultaneously, a gigantic door with rusted hinges appeared behind the clock as well.
With a creak, the knob of the door twisted, and the door opened.
[…] The existence gasped. [You…]
The Boundary that hadn't budged for thousands of years suddenly gained a faint outline of a similar door; Similar, but incomprehensibly smaller — barely a millimeter wide.
And the moment that opening appeared, it vanished, a massive force pushing away Amon.
Like a bug going at the speed of countless times of sound, He slammed into the moon, raising dust.
In the next moment, his entire body caught fire.
When the dust settled, Amon, perfectly fine, was seated on the moon's surface, eying the planet once more.
However, something had changed.
Slowly, Amon lifted his right hand and pinched his right eye once more… smiling.
*****************
AN: Original Image of Amon opening a door in The Boundary is available
Up to 60 more chapters are available in advance across three Tiers. [Use the link in my webnovel profile to access all options]
You can even subscribe Trial Tier for just 1 dollar to have an experience of exclusive chapters for an entire month. I hope a few of you will consider supporting the work.
100 Power Stones: +1 Bonus Chapter