A man in purple robes sat on a chair by the balcony. There were night stars embellishing the sky and a cool breeze washed over him.
Below the sky, and beneath his eyes were several skyscrapers—their forms blended into the nightly darkness. The city stretched before him in layers of flickering light—towers rising like dark spears. Distant headlights streamed along the roads, and the hum of traffic was slightly perceivable.
The man sat comfortable in his lounge chair, sipping from his glass of golden wine. The reflection of a full moon projected in his irises as he stared, observing the beauty of the celestial body that was wrapped amidst the clouds.
It would have been a pictorial sight. If not for the eye that ruined it.
A crack in the sky was present, overlapping the clouds. Only he could see it—both the darkness of the hole, and the eye that stared from within.
The man sighed, dropping his glass on the small round table beside him.
"What is it?" He asked, looking exasperated. His posture remained relaxed, as if it was a perfectly normal sight. His legs extended from the robes, which clung loosely to his slender frame. He had wrinkles on his face, yet a rather youthful appearance and a sporty figure.
The eye kept staring at him, looking at him like he had unpaid rent.
"Three days ago, I was publicly humiliated." The man said calmly, seeing as the deity did not respond in any way.
He was used to it. The Watcher of Ages would appear to him and stare. Then when he told him everything that transpired in his life, he would leave in satisfaction.
His short black pressed into the leathery skin of the lounge chair as he sunk backwards, relaxing more comfortably. "I was embarrassed by a lady too."
He smiled bitterly. "A lady."
Then suddenly he pointed at the eye. "And it's your fault."
Watcher of Ages didn't twitch even slightly, completely unaffected by his accusation. But when the man was about complaining further….he spoke.
"VINCENT!"
An excruciatingly loud voice boomed in his ears, causing him to fidget. His limbs shook as his hand accidentally smacked the wine glass off the table.
"Argh! What is it?" He protested, holding his head in discomfort. Watcher of Ages had in fact, spoken directly in his mind.
To anyone that saw him, he was speaking to himself.
"I need you to do something for me." The deity continued, ignoring his complaints.
Vincent instantly straightened up, his eyes locking on to the one above.
"And why should I?"
….
The eye moved.
It twitched, surprised that he had actually dared to say that. It stared in shock for a while, but Watcher of Ages quickly responded.
"Because I can kill you."
Coming from a god that owned your soul, that was enough to send shivers down anyone's spine. But for Vincent, it was the opposite.
A knowing smile crawled up his face as he took on a mockful expression. He looked in such a way that you would think he had more experience than the deity itself—which had probably lived for thousands of years.
"Kill me?" he mocked. "And why haven't you done that?"
"...."
The Watcher of Ages peered silently at him, unsure of what he was hearing. A human—a mortal, speaking with such disrespect?
But Vincent only continued. "I heard you got bruised by a mortal."
….
At that moment, the temperature seemed to drop several degrees. The eye froze, yet it watched. And time itself seemed to stop.
Because it did.
Everything froze at once. A bird flying in the sky hung still as if suspended by a string from heaven. The cars below stopped in their tracks, with even the streaks of light freezing in place.
As for the people, they resembled ultra-detailed mannequins.
But Vincent was unaffected. And he did not seem surprised by the insane ability of the god above.
In fact he smugly watched him, as if he had seen all there was to see about the god and he was no longer fascinated.
He was messing around with his deity's tolerance level which was already dangerously low. He was testing to see if defeat had truly happened, taking notice of the subtle sense of humility in his actions.
He wasn't so quick to kill him after all.
Maybe because he couldn't?
"ENOUGH!"
The deep voice of the deity echoed in his mind, shaking him from within.
"Ouch!"
Vincent gripped his head by the sides, curling over in agony. Then when the volume subsided, he rose to look back at the perpetrator.
"I'd rather you not scream so much." he mumbled with a bitter smile on his face.
…..
Watcher of Ages squinted, glaring at him with such intensity that made his heart jump up in fear. Yet, Vincent chose not to back down.
"Tell me. Is it true?" He asked.
If it wasn't then he was cooked. If It was, then perhaps….gods weren't all that dangerous. That was what he believed. However he knew his deity as one with a lot of ego, so it made no sense that the Watcher of Ages hadn't proved his ability to end his life just yet.
After all, death threats were regular with each visit. And each time he did something that enraged the deity, he would make one part of his body age drastically.
So why not now?
Was it actually true? Was he weakened?
If so…
The first time it was a smile. This time, it was a full on grin.
"So it's true then!" he yelled, not minding if he was heard by a third party. "A mere man wounded you."
Vincent could perceive the deity's rage intensifying, as blood vessels seemed to bulge from within the sclera, stretching towards the iris. However he knew there was no going back now—he was going all out.
His intention was not to just rage bait the deity, as that was no different from begging for death.
Instead, he was aiming to manipulate him.
In his eyes, unknown truths weren't dangers lying in wait to be discovered. They were opportunities waiting to be taken advantage of.
And in this situation, the mortal—056, who had somehow wounded a god, was the unknown truth he was keen on finding out.
"Is it…" he questioned, his voice dwindling as he watched closely. "..056?"
Watcher of Ages was still wondering where this newfound confidence was emanating from when he heard his words. And unable to hide his surprise, the eye widened noticeably.
Vincent sighed and smiled briefly to himself. He tried reaching out to take a sip of wine, but noticing it had spilled over, he bit his lip in disappointment.
Shutting his eyes, he crossed his fingers, pondering on several things. He had gotten his answer—056 was truly a freak.
But there was surely more to it.
Connecting the dots, he asked one more question. "You want me to kill him?"
He had considered the deity's ego, as well as his behavioural traits. And judging by the data he culminated, this was his best guess.
"YES." The deity immediately replied, affirming his thoughts.
"I see…"
Now several things were bubbling in his mind.
'I can only assume he is in a position where he can't carry out revenge by himself,' he thought. 'Probably due to his wound.'
"I'll do it." he declared. "My ever glorious deity."
Watcher of Ages seemed to relax his form, as the bulging blood vessels receded. He now looked less terrifying, but terrifying still.
"GOOD." he remarked.
Vincent was thinking about several other things instead.
Who was 056?
What was special about him?
How was he able to scar a god?
Why was he getting sent against such monstrosity?
What made the deity think that he could defeat 056 when he failed himself?
Vincent quickly discovered that several things weren't being told to him. As a result, his expression became stern.
"I'll do it." he repeated. "But on one condition."
"What condition?" Watcher of Ages inquired, now a lot calmer than he was a few seconds ago.
Vincent nodded in satisfaction and rested his face on his palm. Then lightly tapping his head, he responded.
"You will tell me everything you know about him."
….
….
Noel's eyes turned cold in an instant. Then involuntarily, a question escaped his mouth.
"Why…are you an apostle?"
Tasha looked confused for a while, raising her eyebrows as she gazed at him, looking as if he made no sense. Then realising that he was genuine with his question, she responded.
"Not now." She answered. "This is not the place."
However her eyes lingered on him, and there was vivid confusion in her stare.
She looked at the door opposite to them, gazing at it with strange emotions in her eyes. After a short while, she walked towards the edge of Noel's bed and began to circle around him.
"You were absent." She said, "And that's a problem we should speak about later."
She was referring to the 'gathering'.
Noel was still very much lost. He had obviously forgotten about the 'official meeting' as he had attached no significance whatsoever to it. And considering everything that had happened to him in just a few days, that was the last thing he could remember.
Noel was about to question what she meant, when Gregory speedily answered him. "It's the official meeting."
Noel's eyes wandered as he stared into deep space, trying to recollect any such thing. When he did remember though, his eyes lit up in partial understanding.
He still didn't know that it was the gathering of Apostles. He had assumed it to be nothing more than a business meeting with other staff. As a result, he let out his curiosity, not minding what she would think—or discover.
"What does that have to do with your apostleship?" He blurted out.
"..."
At first there was an awkwardly long silence. When Noel attempted to repeat himself, she suddenly advanced towards him.
She didn't say a word, and simply came towards him as if she had seen something on his face. You would think she was hypnotized, but Noel knew that wasn't the case.
By memory, and by experience, Noel put his hand over his forehead, shielding himself.
A smile flashed on her face, seeing as Noel had chosen to be pragmatic.
Tasha let out a defeated sigh and sat on the other side of the bed, next to the heart monitor. Running her eyes over his figure, she examined him.
"You really need to sleep some more." She suggested. "I'll tell the doctor to extend your rest period."
Noel tried to argue, but she pressed his lips against each other with her thumb and index finger, shushing him up in an instant.
"Shhh" she whispered.
Noel struggled, trying to voice himself but all to no avail. When he seemed to relent on his agitation, Tasha smiled, allowing him to speak.
"Why can't I leave immediately?" Noel asked.
"Cause you've been talking weirdly for a while now." she replied.
Noel wanted to talk some more, but realising what she said, he kept shut.
Talking weirdly huh?
'Should I play the part or simply be myself?' he wondered.
"You know.." Tasha suddenly spoke, slicing through his thoughts. "You've achieved quite a nice record today."
What record?
Noel remained silent, wary that speaking any more would somehow make her realise that he wasn't Gregory. So he did the inquisition with his expressions, raising an eyebrow to her words.
Tasha checked her watch again. "2 minutes and counting…" She said,
Noel didn't grasp the meaning of her words. However, Gregory explained it to him.
"She's doing it again." He grumbled.
Doing what?
"The counting." He replied. "She's checking how long it takes for my eyes to drift….into certain places."
"….."
Noel instantly understood what he meant, and could only stay frozen in astonishment.
Did this guy sexualise every woman around him?
Tasha's eyes lit up in a strange glint. "I guess people do change overnight, don't they?"
Yeah. Literally.