บท 178: The Moon

"So that's why you lost against me, huh? You underestimated me. Well, I can't blame you. After all, skeletons are supposed to be weak and easily killable monsters, and I've simply turned that on its head." Aaron admitted, surprised at the Hero's lack of expectations. "Still, I do think that you should start thinking about what you want to do. After all, you're free to leave whenever. Just make sure you don't take None with you. He's part of me, after all. You could return to the human world, saying that you were defeated, or you could travel alongside us as we set up peaceful relations with the humans. Anything you want in between those two options is allowed as well." Aaron told him, letting him think on his own decision.

"I honestly don't mind being around here. It may seem sudden, but I need to give a reason. None was telling me about everything that you've done while altering my skin. Although there were some bad points, you've turned to the light side. I respect that. The church, though, is on the good side in the view of us humans, but the dark end in actuality. You were telling me that I was being controlled by the church, and None has helped me realise." The Hero exclaimed with a smile on his face.

"None. I'll ask this once. What did you tell the Hero?" Aaron whispered to the blue substance, and all it did was laugh. "I just told him the average stuff you could expect a church to do, like secret drug deals, abuse of its members, racism, among other things. You know, the average stuff you'd think a fantasy church would do, you know?" None replied, confusing the Hero, but Aaron began laughing his ass off. He didn't expect him to be so blunt about it.

"What? What's so funny?" The Hero asked in concern. He thought something was wrong with Aaron, but he was just laughing because of the bluntness. "Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it, Hero. I'm just going to keep calling you Hero since I don't know your name." Aaron smiled, a single tear of laughter dropping from his eye. He was imagining a conversation between the pair. It simply consisted of None telling him about the most ridiculous things random fantasy churches have done and the Hero just staring at him, his jaw hitting the floor. Aaron couldn't stop imagining the conversation, and he just needed to calm down fully. "Oh, right. I never gave you my name. Well, since I'm not really a Hero anymore, I may as well tell you guys my actual name. It's Steven, but when I was a child, everyone would call me Seph, so either name works." Steven, the Hero, told them, and Aaron made the connection between his nickname and that one video game character that got put into the Earth-famous game Super Smashing Brothers. Not to be confused with its adult-content version by the same name, just rated M for mature and on the internet on some shady sites.

Aaron lifted his hand into the air, pointing towards the stars in the sky. It was nighttime for them currently, so the stars were shining like diamonds in the night sky. Aaron snapped his fingers, watching as everyone looked up into the sky. The stars slowly began to change colours once again, just like he had done for Clair/Free, and they couldn't help but be amazed. It was something almost extraordinary. "This is your planet, the one that you are standing on right now. There are millions upon millions of worlds out there, and this is just one, but this one is unique to itself. There could be millions of copies out there, but there's always something to make them recognisable on their own. This world may be almost identical in one way but completely different in another. That's the beauty of planets. There's always a change in them. You could find a world that's many thousands of years ahead or behind the one you've visited before. It's simply magnificent to behold such a way of influencing history, and you don't even have to be on the same planet. I changed something in a world like 2000 years in the future by doing something stupid on the one before. The sheer amount of possibilities is endless. After all, if you play your cards right, fun is infinite. Enjoyment is infinitely obtainable, given the right circumstances." Aaron said as a single planet came into vision. The sole moon of this world, shining with more clarity than anything else.

"There are many beautiful things in this universe, but there's always something around you. Be it invisible or not, we don't know what's around us. However, we always know one thing. People exist, and sometimes bad things happen. After all, you could call me a demon, a monster, or even a god. All of those fit the description of me, and what I can do goes far beyond that. After all, creativity goes a long way. The saying 'The Pen is Mightier than The Sword' holds a lot of truth, Seph. After all, in some eyes, I'm a saviour. To others, I'm the nightmare on the dark side of the moon." Aaron stated, his face appeared on the surface of the moon. Not in actuality, as this was all an illusion. The group just looked up in shock. "Aaron, I knew you were able to do a whole bunch of bullshit, but this? This is madness but in a good way. Altering the shape of the moon? Something that only you'd have the audacity to do." None admitted as Crystet nodded alongside him. Aaron snapped his fingers, and the night sky returned to normal, the stars no longer shining as brightly. Aaron looked up into the night sky, white clouds beginning to roll in.

"The Nightmare of the Dark Side of The Moon, huh? Well, I guess it suits."