Chapter Text
I dreamt of a tall green hill.
I dreamt of myself stepping on the green fields, sometimes taking in the sights of the beautiful flowers that grew on them. There were a plethora of choices amongst the floral collection, some were a beautiful shade of crimson, others had a tint of purple mixed with a deep dark blue. As my eyes scanned the artistic layout, a certain flower seemed to magnify my vision towards it; its pedals were a bright tone of yellow, giving it a radiating vibe that made it shine amongst all the flowers. Klein watched the flower swim in the wind in awe, ‘He’ felt that the colors and the symbol were very similar to a certain Justice that he knew. Immediately, ‘His’ gaze softened at the thought of ‘His’ therapist, friend and companion.
She would like this flower field…he thought and soon ‘His’ vision darkened around its edges as ‘He’ slowly rose from ‘His’ slumber.
…
Klein felt a bit wistful at the thought of sleeping. There were many bad memories with the likes of Celestial Worthy and the Apocalypse that caused him to be awake most of the time. However, those problems in the past were no more - ‘He’ had successfully resealed the barrier around Earth, completely diverting the attack of the cosmos, and saving Earth for another era. That is to say, ‘He’ hoped that ‘His’ plan was successful and was constantly on edge about the existence lurking outside of the planet. Well, space exploration would be out of the question for another hundred years, Klein joked inwardly as ‘He’ formed human legs below ‘His’ navel before slowly getting out of the illusory bed. There weren’t a lot of tasks for ‘Him’ to do nowadays - responding to prayers, making wishes and checking up on his close companions/devout believers - the easy life of being a Pillar was being thoroughly enjoyed by Klein at the moment. Of course, by easy, your whole existence is to be responsible for a certain part of the universe, therefore, it was imperative that Klein maintained a strong anchor to keep ‘His’ sanity. The Church of the Fool would have the common believers increasing in numbers, but ‘He’ would always try to make backup plans or other efforts in strengthening ‘His’ humanity.
Klein walked over a prayer light that was swelling with a deep crimson color. A prayer from Miss Justice…Yeah, he knew her full name and identity, but he liked to keep those inside the Tarot Club at a very polite distance. Upon touching the floating orb, he heard a sweet voice sound out and an image of a praying girl appeared.
-Good day, Mr. Fool, I have a report on the issue of increasing Mr. Fool’s humanity. From my findings, aside from increasing their number of ‘devout’ believers, finding close affection such as friendship or perhaps, love in a sense, can help increase Mr. Fool’s stability. This can also work for Mr. World too, however, I can not contact him. If you could please send this message to Mr. World as well, he may benefit greatly from this. I have been very worried about him.
Praise the Fool.
The prayer light dimmed as the orb desaturated to look identical to the other floating orbs. Klein stood there with a contemplative face and finally sat down at the seat of honor. Whilst rapping ‘His’ arms across the armchair ‘He’ ran his mind across the recent message, and thought deeply.
-I can understand it as like the damage transfer of the Magician, if I get hurt from corruption someone who is close to me can probably share the instability, allowing my body and that person to easily recover without much problems. However, how is the connection made? Does it stem from deep emotions or something else?
Sensing the Lord's question, the Spirit World immediately provided images for ‘His’ question like an automated question answerer.
-As I have guessed, the connection is formed from a deep emotional support, possibly formed from moments of weakness where one side had needed one. Hmmm - emotions are a very delicate thing for High-Sequence Beyonders, if we get ourselves too involved emotionally, the common result is loss of control or madness. Who fits the criteria as my emotional support?
Immediately, Miss Justice’s image appeared on the front of Klein’s mind. As ‘His’ personal therapist, she would have already seen ‘His’ weak state and has accordingly played as a support to help ‘Him’. Klein thought back to the prayer, seemingly disturbed by something.
-I still haven’t told them yet, about my true identity. Lately, my humanity has been diminishing a lot, so it’s a lot more difficult for Mr. World to maintain an active state in the real world. This problem from my godhood needs to be resolved soon.
…
Should I tell them the truth? Should I give them the right to judge me now? What if they reject it and I immediately lose control on the spot, causing another Apocalypse to fall down…
‘His’ tone turned somber as the two conflicting thoughts clashed between each other, and Klein felt that this matter was slowly turning into something dangerous. ‘He’ needed to trust someone now, ‘He’ needed to cling onto someone.
__________________________________
Audrey Hall was reading through a thick book while lounging on a wide couch inside of her apartment in Backlund. She had moved out of the Hall Residence some time ago, out of fear and love for her family. Moreover, the idea of deceiving her family whilst she took dangerous missions in the meantime didn’t leave a good taste on Audrey. Therefore, during early June of 1370, Audrey Hall moved into her comfortable house in Empress Borough after buying it using the shares she had. The place wasn’t too far from her family, and the location was perfect for her tastes. Currently, she had already decorated her house with quite a number of books, and whenever she had the free time, she was determined to relax and enjoy her reading.
This is life…she sighed as she spooned some sugar into her tea and drank it ‘elegantly’. The still gem of Backlund was still as gentle and attractive as before, and the number of visitors (cough courting men cough) she had everyday was a bit tiring. Of course, she couldn’t help but to get out of Backlund as soon as possible, but at the moment, she wanted to stay close with her parents. Not too close, of course, her presence is now of an Angel, as such, she needed to be away from normal humans as much as possible. This saddened her a bit, she did become strong to protect her family after all, however, the natural life order of her and her family was far too great now - even including Alfred Hall, a Sequence 5.
She flipped a page over, having already spent a couple minutes on the previous one. Suddenly, her vision darkened as she noticed herself sitting atop the familiar gray fog. Ah? She gasped.
-Mr. Fool, er-, my apologies, I was just a bit surprised!
The girl said with a radiating smile. Too bright even, thought Klein.
Klein immediately felt calm once ‘He’ saw ‘His’ angel, er- that didn’t sound quite right did it. ‘He’ noticed warmth flush across ‘His’ cheeks as he secretly cleared his throat. ‘He’ then chuckled and said:
-Miss Justice, I apologize for scaring you, haha, you see I have a bit of an urgent request.
Hm? Audrey didn’t pay attention to the fact that a god apologized to her, she must’ve misheard it anyways, but an urgent request… there was a heavy feeling brimming inside of her.
-I request your psychology consultation, er, your therapy. The payment would be anything you wish for, as long as it is within my power.
Audrey immediately connected the dots. Mr. Fool gave me a mission to find ways to increase a higher being’s humanity, however, a need for psychology would mean that-! Her stomach now felt like a whirlpool of darkness, she had a dreadful thought before shaking her head.
-Of course, I will do everything in my power to help you. Mr. Fool, if you wish for it, we can start now.
Klein thought for a moment and nodded in response. Immediately, the gray fog stirred as the bronze tables were swallowed by that same fog. Then, a large room was conjured as the previous fog disappeared into thin air. The room had a common appearance, with a fireplace on one end and a plethora of decorations on the walls, tables and ceilings. The floor was covered by a thick carpet, giving the place a homey vibe. Inside the room, there were two reclining chairs stationed with a large paper wall in between them. Klein gestured for Audrey to sit in one chair while ‘He’ went behind the paper wall to ‘recline’ on the second chair. Audrey was put out of her trance caused from the sudden appearance of the room and braced herself for this therapy session. You can do this Audrey, Mr. Fool is believing in you!
-Mr. Fool, before we start this session, is there anything you wish to inform me? Perhaps, context to how this issue arose, the people involved, anything on your mind?
Of course, the session has already started, but this method makes it so that I can come back to Mr. Fool’s state of mind to construct my therapy!
-Miss Justice, have you ever had to lie to live a life? In a situation where, if people found out about your truth, found the real you all naked and vulnerable, they would most likely cast you aside - would you be able to bear it?
Audrey put a finger on her chins to ponder a bit over before saying:
-If I were to be put under such a situation, I do not think I’ll be able to continue onwards, however, the saying of a lie is sometimes used to protect one’s true self from danger. For example, Mr. Wor-
Audrey slapped herself inwardly, Mr. World is your patient, Audrey! Even if this is Mr. Fool, you shouldn’t go around leaking people’s secrets. Ugh, I am already this nervous… She felt her back was sweating bullets already.
The Fool could be heard chuckling as ‘He’ spoke with a hoarse voice.
-You are a very kind girl, Miss Justice, it was wise for Mr. World to be put under your care as his personal therapist. However, I am curious, what is your opinion of me?
What is my opinion of Mr. Fool, anything not blasphemous! Audrey felt a bit tense at Mr. Fool’s words, but inside a therapy session, a patient trusted their doctor the most!
-You are the kind and benevolent Mr. Fool. For me, you have been able to help me grow in strength and wisdom, as such I only hold the greatest respect for you. Without your warning and preparations, my family would have been in greater danger, for this, I also hold an unimaginable amount of gratitude for you.
There were no pauses or stuttering from the exalted Justice, yes, those words truly did come out of the depths of her heart. However, if the Fool was satisfied with her answer, ‘He’ did not show it nor voiced it. Instead, he continued:
-Yes, some people may believe me as their exalted guardian, a kind god with a big heart. However, I do not think of myself this way. I think that I am a trickster, a fraud and now, after losing my humanity, a hollow god.
Audrey was struck. This...? This was not good, especially for an above the sequence, who battled insanity on a daily basis. Such direct insults to himself would completely shatter him and make him go mad!
-Mr. Fool, do you know the reason behind your opinion of yourself? I myself cannot go far as to look into you, however, past events will always be behind in the past. The most important recovery for a person’s mental health is the acceptance they make with their mistakes.
The Fool was silent for a bit. Audrey couldn’t tell if he was already gone, or if he was deep in thought. This suspense was killing her, she could have sworn she felt her eyebrows twitch involuntarily.
-Miss Justice, you may not know, but for a long time my only goal was to return to my home. To seek out this place I went above and beyond limits, causing me to forsake my normal life and live as a murderer, hunter and seeker of revenge. Even now, with all ‘these’ powers, there is no hope for me to return. I have gained the understanding that my wish had been completely for naught from the very beginning.
Even after becoming the Lord of Mysteries, one of the Pillars of the Universe, ‘He’ cannot rewind time. ‘He’ can conjure a different dimension where ‘He’ can live peacefully in solitude, but doing so would mean falling too deep into that dream and never waking up again. Indulging in something like that was something equivalent to losing control.
Audrey felt a strange feeling wash over her. Lost homeland…cannot return. Did Mr. Fool and Mr. World come from the same place? There was evidence suggesting that Mr. World was very ancient, and as the one who blessed him, Mr. Fool may also be from the same place as Mr. World. The contents of their description pretty much lines up, and their unique relationship also supports this too. Audrey then thought back to that ‘certain’ day as Mr. World’s therapist. He was crying. He could not return home. He felt lost. The Justice felt a strong conviction to fix Mr. World then, but now - matters relating to a God’s emotions were obviously more complicated. Suddenly, Audrey finally understood the root of the problem. Although it could be blasphemous, this points to the root cause of it all-
-Mr. Fool, what plans did you have after the Apocalypse?
Ah, I said it now… To question a god, no, a Pillar- Audrey prepared for a lightning to smite her down immediately, but that did not happen. In fact, nothing happened, Audrey turned her head to find that Mr. Fool had stood up from his reclining position and was now sitting on the chair.
-Becoming a Pillar and preventing the Apocalypse was the last way possible for me to return home. However, I cannot freely change time like that, I cannot exist with my hometown anymore. There is the possibility of building a separate dimension to live as my former self there, but what would happen to you all? How would anyone be able to separate me from my dreams? I had too much time indulging with it when I was battling against the Celestial Worthy, I remember how real it felt for the first time. In fact, a part of me died when I was forced to leave that place, it was as if that place was truly realistic.
Ah? It sounds like the exact same problem that Mr. World had a few years ago, in that case-
-Then Mr. Fool, to form meaningful connections with our present world, to quell the despair that you felt, it is common for any individual to feel a longing for home. I will, perhaps, never understand the despair you are feeling now. However, anyone without a sense of belonging is doomed to despair from the very start, and I would like to mention that Mr. Fool, you belong here. Mr. Fool belongs in our hearts, in our beliefs and minds. It is very clear that you hold the lives of your believers in the respect each one deserves, and as a devout believer, I cannot be more than happy to feel that you feel this way for us. Alas, belonging can also be suited to another person’s taste too, is there another sense of belonging that you wish for?
The blonde girl looked towards the paper wall and to the individual behind it. However, the individual in question did not speak immediately. The atmosphere around has definitely become lighter, given how the Sefiroh works, Mr. Fool’s situation has most likely improved! Then a muffled sound came across the paper wall. Audrey didn’t quite catch the words uttered.
-My apologies, Mr. Fool. I couldn’t quite catch your words; can you perhaps say it again?
…
There is no need to feel embarrassed, Klein thought. Miss Justice’s words are true, I am probably too attached to this world now, and I need to find ways to make meaningful connections and build relationships. Not as partners, but as friends and perhaps something more…
Here goes nothing!
-I wish to be loved by someone.
…
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Audrey’s back straightened not out of fear, but out of shock. Mr. Fool is romantically deprived? Ugh- no! Audrey don’t think about Mr. Fool that way. Audrey was frantically looking sideways as to distract herself from what those words meant. Besides, do gods go into marriage? My findings did show that romantic relationships can increase humanity, however, in the Beyonder world, a romantic relationship was something similar to a gamble. If your partner is someone you can’t love for a long period of time (forever in a God’s case) then it is very easy to lose control over the turbulent emotions.
-Miss Justice, there is something I would like to tell you about. It is my most cherished secret.
Audrey suddenly stopped all her thoughts to look at the paper wall with wide eyes again. A secret? Of course, as a therapist, this would always help her towards her diagnosis, but a god’s secret terrified her. She did not show this however and kept silent as if to indicate for the other to continue.
-Miss Justice, I will now remove the paper wall
Ah?
Before Audrey had time to recover from that back-to-back shock, the paper wall simply disappeared into the gray fog revealing the bare faces of the couple completely devoid of the gray fog’s concealment.
A man who looked to be in his twenties stood in front of her, with dark brown hair and similarly colored eyes. His whole aura was scholarly with his soft smile and a somewhat childish face. Audrey felt that she had seen his face before, however before she could scrutinize his face more clearly, she immediately realized that she was staring at a God! Feeling her face grow stiff, she immediately retracted her gaze and developed a sudden interest towards the floor.
-Miss Justice, I take no offense when you see my face, this is out of my own will.
Justice immediately flinched at ‘His’ soft voice, a complete contrast to how ‘He’ usually sounds, was this ‘His’ real voice?
-Ah Mr. Fool, nice to meet you, er-, you look very smart!?
Gulp, she really didn’t know what to say now, however sensing no anger from the God in front of her, she soon started to realize the gravity of the situation. Right, this is Mr. Fool’s secret!
-Nice to meet you too, Audrey Hall…
She knew ‘He’ knew her name, but her eyes couldn’t help but glance towards the gentleman in front of her. ‘He’ was smiling at her.
-...my name is Klein Moretti.
Klein Moretti…Mr. World? Er- what? But it was clearly Mr. Fool that was just here, why would Klein Moretti appear here. Although Audrey never saw Klein face-to-face, she knew that this name belonged to one of their Tarot Club members, Mr. World.
-Klein Moretti is Mr. World. However, ‘He’ is also Mr. Fool as well.
Klein then looked at the girl in front of her, who was clearly phasing between each stage of emotion and experiencing all of them at the same time. If not for the power of the gray fog, she would have probably lost control due to the ‘size’ of his secret. Of course, ‘He’ would never go unprepared into this without making sure Audrey wouldn’t go mad. ‘He’ had purification charms, ‘His’ paper angels and the gray fog to come save her at any moment. Now, the results of my gamble…
Audrey was still frozen. Her mind relapsed a few times, but even this would not stop an angel from the Spectator pathway to completely lose all functions. Her usual sober brain wasn’t analyzing to its full potential, but she did understand the situation clearly.
Mr. Fool is Mr. World, who in turn is Klein Moretti. I know ‘He’ is also Gehrman Sparrow and was from the Seer pathway. Now that I think about it, ‘Both’ is suspected to have come from the same past, Mr. Fool would also get stronger whenever Mr. World advanced. Lastly, ‘Both’ went to sleep to fight off against the Celestial Worthy. To think that something like this could exist…
She darted her gaze back to who called ‘Himself’ Klein Moretti. Honestly, she wouldn’t have believed this so fast if not for the fact that she had suspected something like this in the past. Do the others know? Of course, nobody would blaspheme to relate a human to an ancient god, but knowing this now, I feel like anything is possible-
Klein was observing her behaviors, as expected, Spectators are truly freaks of nature. ‘He’ wasn’t convinced that anyone can take this much information easily and come to the conclusion naturally, but ‘He’ knew that if anyone would have suspected ‘Him’ as Mr. Fool after that session, it would be the Justice. Klein felt bad for making the Justice hear his ‘deepest secret’, but ‘He’ suspected that loss of control would have been inevitable if this action was not taken. In fact,…
-I apologize for making you scared, Miss Justice. Yes, the information about my identity is a secret that I have painstakingly kept up all these years. Hehe, if I had known that it would bite me now, maybe I would have told the Tarot Club before I went to sleep…
Audrey still felt a bit awkward about the situation, but she couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows at the last sentence. Klein noticed this and continued
-After becoming a Pillar, it has become increasingly difficult to maintain my humanity. Not to mention that I have advanced far too quickly for any catching up on my mind. This is why it was necessary for me to leak this secret to someone I could trust.
Audrey had first suspected that she was being manipulated by a deity, but soon eliminated the idea, since there could be no way for anyone to replicate the gray fog. Unless you are a Great Old One, in that case I would die without even knowing it. The Justice felt grim while contemplating the tricky situation she found herself in.
Ugh- it’s so hard to believe. In fact, I should just pinch myself to see if I am dreaming… Er- forget that I would notice something strange if I went to a dream too, because I have the blessings of Mr. Fool…
-Ah, thank you for thinking so highly of me, Mr. Foo- er, Mr. Moretti, how should one address you?
Klein felt happy that the Justice wasn’t going on total denial and briskly requested her to call her Mr. Moretti if they were in private. ‘He’ felt that ‘His’ humanity was growing.
I can clearly see the increasing positiveness on his face, this means that my reaction was sufficient enough for Kle- no, I am still not used to it, Mr. Fool to regain some humanity!
-Then Mr. Moretti, uhm, I assume that this should be kept a secret from the other members too?
Klein gave her an affirmative nod before speaking with a small grin.
-For the moment, yes. I will tell them in the future, however, as of now, they will probably have even better reactions than you did.
Audrey felt a bit embarrassed at the tease. She couldn’t control her expressions well during her initial shock. I mean who would hear that a normal human being acted as a god and then turned into a real god - hmph. Audrey inwardly puffed her cheeks as she was now left with nothing to talk about. The therapy session seems to be over…
-Ah, right. My body is feeling much better now thanks to you, Miss Audrey. The gravity of this situation was clearly much higher than you may have anticipated, as such I am willing to pay for three requests.
The young man said while closing his eyes and smiling a lot brighter than before. The Justice was relieved at seeing the genuine expression on ‘His’ face, the session seemed to have gone smoothly with no loss of control…
-Well, I was really only thinking of one reward at the time. I wanted to make a charm that could help me ignore certain matters, or make people ignore me. Erm, it would be great if it was targeted too~
Klein pondered over for a while and then shook ‘His’ wrists. Suddenly, a paper figurine appeared on ‘His’ right hand as ‘He’ then burned it while on his left hand, a vial popped into existence. A bright light soon enveloped the room for a short while as a 3-winged angel suddenly appeared and seemingly fused into the bottle of liquid on Klein’s hand. Was that… an angel? Audrey thought in silence as the light finally died down as she noticed that the paper figurine was gone, while the vial on Klein’s left hand was shining with a bright gray color. Seeing that the blonde girl had still not pondered over her remaining two requests, Klein gently told her that she can pray for it in the future as her figure soon disappeared into a ray of crimson light.
Sigh, from now on, Klein will be walking on a tightrope.