Chương 83: 78th Move | Parting and Reconciliation
AN: I don't really like creating new backstories. Chronoa's three chapters should've made that obvious, so why do I keep on making them?
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Kathy's new home was a suburban one-garage house. The living room was connected to the main door via a hallway that also had a staircase going up to the second floor off to the side, with the entrance to the kitchen being situated on the opposite wall to the hallway.
"Hey, isn't it a bit late?" *******'s father called out as he turned off the TV that was displaying an episode of 'Lost' with a remote. Sitting on the sofa, ******* stretched a bit, looking puzzled as he raised his head from the thick novel called 'Exultant' that's currently opened in his lap, "I mean Kathy, shouldn't she already returned by now?"
******* remembered how when he was in kindergarten, he would make morbid jokes about a classmate's parents if they came late, often involving car crashes.
Safe to say he did not make too many friends during preschool.
Slightly cringing at the memory, ******* returned to the present, closing the sci-fi novel on his lap, "Kathy's a big girl, she can take care of herself. Besides, this isn't like Detroit: it's a safe neighborhood. Besides, I remember seeing an advertisement showing that the new Windows OS is out."
"A new what? I swear I can never get used to what you youngsters are saying nowadays."
"Heh," ******* smiled at the exasperated tone of his father, finding it amusing how he sounded like a grandpa in the face of technology, "she should be back soon."
As if on command, ******* heard the sounds of keys jingling from outside the door.
"See, what'd I tell you?" Putting the book down, ******* got up and walked towards the door. Just as he reached the halfway point to the couch and door, Kathy finally got the door opened, "Hey, Kath—"
******* paused and stopped walking to take in Kathy's disheveled appearance. Her jacket looked like it was hastily put on, her hair was wet and all over the place, and her eyes were puffy as though she was crying.
*Thud*
Kathy then dropped the heavy bag that must've contained the things she bought at the computer store.
Even his father, who is absolutely unfamiliar with electronics, knows that they are delicate, and Kathy's the most tech-savvy one in the entire family.
"Kathy? Did something happen on the way home? Are you hurt?"
Instead of answering, the girl removed her boots and quickly rushed past *******, noisily going up the stairs and slamming her door shut loud enough to wake up the neighbors next door.
"..." ******* looked back at his father for guidance, only to find the man just as surprised as he is, "I'll go check up on her."
Slowly going up the stairs, ******* felt a pit of dread and uncertainty open up inside his body. The possibility that something DID happen rose like a rocket.
The second floor of *******'s residence has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 1 storage room, and 2 built-in closets with one being walk-in. The doors to the rooms are situated around an indoor balcony that's connected to the first floor via a staircase.
Due to the fact that Kathy's room was the furthest away from the staircase, ******* had to walk extra distances which forced his sense of dread to stew even more. As he reached the closed door, ******* raised his hand to knock on it.
The curved index and middle finger are now mere millimeters away from touching the door.
"..." His hand is trembling as though a freezing winter breeze had blown through the house, *******'s mind is going absolutely wild with the possibilities.
What happened? Was she mugged? No, that can't be the case, since it would be a police officer who knocks on the door. Did she get into a fight? No, she would have visible bruises, and again, a police officer would be the one that knocks. Did she get in the middle of a shootout? No, guns are loud, so if it did happen, ******* would've heard popping sounds.
Perhaps she got... forced down and... ******* couldn't even finish that thought.
A shock of coldness ran through *******'s body. Balling up his fist, "Guh!" ******* smacked his head several times to get rid of such thoughts.
Stilling his breathing, ******* knocked several times on Kathy's door, "Kathy? Is something wrong? Did something happen?"
No reply.
"Kathy?"
No reply.
"Kathy, I'm coming in! If you don't want me in your room you better say something or I'm going to take your silence as a yes."
No reply.
"Alright, I'm coming in!" Slowly, ******* twisted the knob and pushed the door in, opening just a crack, "I'm really coming in!"
The hinges creaked as the door slowly opened, ******* found Kathy lying face down on her bed, her boots dirtying the end of her bed.
It either means she didn't notice or she just didn't care.
"Kathy?" Getting closer, ******* found Kathy's face smashed into the pillow, only a bundle of black hair could be seen.
She didn't even remove her jacket.
"Kaaaaaathy! Your brother is going to be hurt by your lack of attention!" ******* said in a teasing manner, only to find Kathy unresponsive.
*******'s face stilled, turning serious. Carefully not to disturb her too much, ******* sat by the edge of the long side of Kathy's bed. "Alright, what happened? Did someone hurt you?"
No response. ******* leaned forward, using his arms as scaffolding that would uphold his body.
"Kathy, you know you can tell me everything right? I'm your brother, you're supposed to trust me with things. I know you're a big girl now and you deserve privacy, but please, tell me what's wrong."
"...ea..."
Hearing something being said, *******'s back quickly stiffened. Getting up and turning around, "Kathy?"
"...eav..."
"Pardon?"
Kathy got up from her pillowy cave to glare at *******, her eyes were puffy to show that she's been quietly crying, "Leave me alone."
"Listen, you're clearly not in the right state of mind, tell me what's wrong—"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
*******'s mouth stammered shut, "Listen, I know you're emotional, but please tell me what happened at least—"
Kathy then shoved ******* with all her might. Since her lower half is lying on the bed, the ex-demon wasn't able to exert much force and only pushed her brother back by a quarter of a meter.
"LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE."
******* became speechless, before nodding his head and heading out the door, quietly closing it as he walked past the doorframe.
Kathy glared at her beloved brother's disappearing back as he left. As a Primordial Demon, even if it's in the past, one still carries that fact with pride in their heart, pride at being the strongest demon in the Underworld. That pride was shattered.
The memories of being overpowered by a mere human so quickly and so easily were still raw inside her mind. The panic, the fear, that primal terror embedded deep within one's genes, was all-consuming, devouring all other thoughts and feelings.
But what came after... the defense... like a shining white knight you'd hear in fairy tales...
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The next day, in school.
******* was very concerned with his sister. Something clearly happened on the walk back home, yet Kathy isn't willing to share likely because it was too painful or because of shame. ******* really hoped it wasn't as bad as he thought, but there really isn't another explanation.
He tried to come up with another, but there just really wasn't. And since Kathy isn't talking at all, nobody could do anything.
******* broke his rubber stress ball from the sheer force he exerted upon it. He was mad, murderously angry, and thus, he planned to visit the computer store where Kathy went and check their security camera to see which bastard had done it.
Because of the intimidating aura surrounding ******* today, nobody bothered him. That was until he was about to leave school for the day.
"*******!"
Hearing his name being called, ******* turned around to face Charlie, a member of the computer club. Charlie was your stereotypical 'nerd', large classes, freckles doting his cheeks, wild dirty blonde hair, and wearing a sweatshirt. When Kathy first joined the computer club, ******* had asked Ms. Emberman for a complete list of its members, and afterward, he personally had a conversation with each of the members to get a 'feel' for their character. Charlie was the one he actually trusted the most, considering the guy is too skittish to even think of lying to authority.
"What is it, Charlie? I had a very bad day, so please make it short."
Charlie froze for a moment, before blinking several times and stuttering, "O—O—Oh, are—are you going to... you know..."
******* took in a deep breath, "Charlie, think of what you're going to say before you speak, it helps with the stuttering."
A particular quirk of Charlie was that his mind thinks too fast for his mouth to catch up, causing him to stutter a lot when talking with people. ******* thinks the reason why he loves computers even more than Kathy is that electronics and texts can communicate far more efficiently than human mouths.
"I guess she didn't say anything huh?"
"'She'?"
"Kathy. I went to the computer store last night to get a new RTX graphics chip for my computer, I saw Kathy running out of an alleyway next to the store with Tom chasing closely behind."
Tom?
"Hey, are you okay?"
Tom is responsible?
One of my friends raped my sister?
The revelation made ******* unable to think of anything else. But he could almost picture himself wearing a suit with white plastic gloves, standing over a body.
Shifting his jaw from left to right like a pendulum, ******* had a faraway look in his eyes, not really existing in the present.
"Well, I wanted to ask you if Kathy's dating him since I kinda wanted to ask her out..."
It finally dawned on Charlie that maybe this wasn't the best time to ask for permission.
"What are you doing with this nerd, *******?"
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. ******* felt a heavy arm coil around his shoulder. Turning to face the one responsible, he found Tom among all the people next to him.
His hands twitched, ******* vividly imagined choking the life out of Tom right here and now.
"I was talking to him about how yes—"
"Nothing much." Putting on a smile, ******* got out of his ex-friend's touch. Clasping his hands behind his back, ******* continued to put on an award-winning smile, "I was just talking to him about the computer club that my sister is in."
Charlie's brow furrowed in confusion, "What? We—"
He was quickly cut off as ******* discreetly squeezed Charlie's shoulder, "you were just leaving, weren't you? And you were talking about privacy for the new digital age?"
"Oh yeah, about your sister, believe it or not, I actually saved her from some drunkard yesterday night."
"..." It took all of *******'s strength and willpower to not call Tom out on his bullshit and start a fight right here and now. "I see. I thank you for it."
The most dangerous people in the world are those who could accept their defeat, accept their humiliation head-on, all the while smiling and later join up with the enemy to act as a slow poison that steadily rots the inside. And just like a slow poison, once the symptoms began to take shape, it would've been too late.
******* smiled all the way.
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Three months later.
A rule of thumb for any plan makers out there: don't make complex plans. Unlike in fiction, the reality is far more chaotic and it's best to play as few dice with god as possible.
Therefore, any plan that requires typically more than three specific things to happen will likely not succeed.
"I'm pregnant."
Tom recoiled away in shock after hearing one of the girls he slept with during a party two months ago came back with a testing result. "What? You— are you sure? Are you absolutely sure that it's mine?"
Tom was just chatting with his friends when she came up to him and announced the pregnancy, and everyone nearby stopped in their tracks.
The girl nodded, causing Tom to back away as though trying to escape from reality, his face a mask of disbelief.
That's when the whispers started.
"No..." Tom felt trapped, he felt he couldn't escape. Before this, Tom had plans of going pro with his basketball, and his rather conservative parents supported his decision. But if they hear of this they would force him to marry the girl, "No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!"
"Please no," Tom smiled deliriously, "please tell me you're joking."
The girl shook her head slowly, taking out the pregnancy test stick to show that there were two lines.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha..." The crowd that surrounded the two parted ways as Tom backed further away from the girl, feeling his world collapse, his future disappearing.
For the first time ever since the start of high school, Tom was uncertain of the future. For his entire high school life, all he ever thought about concerning his future was to join the pro leagues.
"What am I supposed to do now...?"
As Tom's world was crashing all around him, Kathy looked on from afar with stunned silence.
"Hey," A familiar voice from behind her caused the girl to flinch violently. Turning around, Kathy found her brother putting a comforting arm around her shoulder.
Even after months, she still couldn't tell them what exactly happened. The shame was still as raw as that day.
"Please don't sneak up on me." Kathy plead.
Her brother frowned, "All alright, I promise I won't anymore." He then crossed his arms, "so you enjoying the show?"
Kathy's brows furrowed, "show? What show?"
*******'s eyes pointed at the devastated Tom.
Wait. He can't possibly be responsible for this, could he? You can't just have someone impregnate another, Kathy thought.
At the same time, her brother had done outrageous things before...
Kathy coiled her arm around *******'s left limb and started dragging him towards a corner where there was no one that could overhear them.
"What did you do?!" Kathy hissed.
Surprised by her tone, her brother tried to defend his action, "I just used one of Tom's vices against him. That's all."
"You..." Tom was infamous for sleeping around, "You somehow caused that?"
"I just gave him some condoms with holes pricked into them. It took a while but it seems I've succeeded."
"Why?" Kathy asked in a strangely quiet tone.
"Tom's father was one of the fiercest contributors to the local Church. When he hears that his son has gotten someone pregnant, the thought of having a bastard child would be blasphemous. He would force his son to marry the girl. His future is destroyed."
Kathy's eyes widened as she slowly stepped back until she hit the wall.
"What? Why are you staring at me like that?" Her brother asked with a raised eyebrow.
The ex-demon now saw her brother in an entirely new light. Deep in her heart, she felt afraid of him for the first time.
Monster, she was tempted to say, except that would make her a hypocrite. For a time as a Primordial Demon, Violet had pretended to be a helpless maiden tricking unsuspecting knights into saving her and ruining them so thoroughly afterward that they'd often pierce themselves on their own sword.
The long years as a human in a civilized society have caused Kathy to dull, to be unused to such subterfuge and tactics. To be suddenly dunked into a situation that reminded her intensely of her time as a Primordial Demon was like a war veteran with PTSD being in the presence of gunfire.
It reminded her of her innumerable sins.
Reactively, Kathy quickly skittered away without saying a word.
After that day, Kathy never spoke a single word to her brother again. Even when he knocked on her door, his face twisted with tears, not once had the ex-demon ever acknowledged him.
"Please let me in! Tell me what I did wrong! Please, just talk to me again..."
Just looking at her brother made Kathy intensely aware of her own sins.
Even when her parents shipped him off to post-secondary, Kathy never again acknowledged him, and he never spoke a word to her either. Kathy couldn't blame him.
After graduation, the most ******* would do is call their parents and maybe her every year's end to wish them a Merry Christmas out of politeness, rarely returning home. After going out of high school, Kathy chose to study as a computer science major, eventually landing a job at an IT firm near home after being headhunted for the job.
Her coworkers described Kathy as a studious worker who's always willing to cover for others even when it puts her at a disadvantage. In her free time, Kathy would either visit her parents or volunteer at the local community center. In fact, she volunteered so often that the ex-demon is on a first-name basis with many of the staff and visitors.
Even after close to a decade, the rift between the siblings was never repaired. Sometimes, when the purple-eyed woman couldn't sleep at night, she would often go through her contact and stare at the names present, her fingers hovering just above the name of her brother.
Yet always, Kathy came up with the excuse that it was too late despite knowing just how hard her brother worked.
And the rift will never be mended, for one evening after coming home, Kathy received a phone call from the hospital saying that her brother had died.
The pain coming from her knees crashing into the cold wooden floor was overshadowed by the pain she felt in her heart. Yet she never shed a single tear the whole time.
The funeral for her brother was a somber affair. Not a lot of people showed up since her brother never really kept in contact with his high school friends nor made any new ones. Anyone who did come was friends of the family, her parent's old coworkers, Kathy's friends, or really close neighbors from when they were growing up.
Even after everyone left, Kathy still stood beside *******'s grave. Even when her legs became sore, she still stood vigilant.
Her insides were an extremely bundled-up mixture of feelings and raw emotion. Still, the ex-demon didn't shed a single tear throughout the whole procession.
A stab wound. A stab wound and subsequently rapid loss of blood were the cause of death.
As it started raining, Kathy scoured around the empty graveyard, her trenchcoat protecting her from much of the water coming from the sky. Her face then turned to the sky above, feeling the water hitting her closed eyes.
"Ah..." The rain droplets that had hit her face started flowing down like tears, yet her eyes remained ever dry.
She... should be... awfully sad shouldn't she? Any normal person should be bawling her eyes out in mourning for a lost loved one.
"Ah..." Why isn't she crying? "Ah..." She should be crying right now, so why isn't she?
When Kathy opened her eyes, she saw a white figure off in the distance, standing under a tree.
"Ah..."
Her original mission. She was supposed to serve as an early warning system for Relentless' return. Kathy had failed, she instead spent over two decades playing human.
She recognized that white figure. Kathy approached the white figure and found out that it was indeed Chronoa.
Both were silent, neither started a conversation as the ex-demon simply stared at the white mask that Chronoa always wore.
Close to half a minute of silent exchange later, Kathy finally broke the silence.
"I thought I was supposed to serve as an early warning system for Relentless, why am I here as a human?" Not a hint of grief was present on Kathy's face, it was as if the old Violet had returned alongside Chronoa, the Hero of Time.
The Hero or better to call her Veldanava reborn since she could apparently just force a Primordial into becoming a human.
To anyone else, such power would normally be frightening, yet all Kathy could feel at the moment was numbness. If something is so far beyond your imagination, it's hard even to fear it.
"Your brother was Relentless."
Chronoa was extremely blunt and to the point.
Violet recalled back to Relentless' Rampage, all that fire, blood, distortions, and glitch to the rotation of the planet, and imagined her sweet, gentle, and overprotective brother in place of the Perfect Homunculus. Violet recoiled in disgust.
"Bullshit, there's no way ******* was Relentless."
"You'd be surprised at how different initial conditions can result in drastically different results." Chronoa coolly said as though she knew exactly what she was talking about. Her body language suggested supreme confidence.
Violet bit her lower lips as her right eye twitched, "I don't believe you. I don't believe that the greatest monster in the world, a being even worse than Ivarage, would be my brother."
Violet, being almost as old as creation itself, could believe in many things. Her brother being Relentless was something that was simply impossible.
Chronoa then waved her off, "That's just your emotional irrationality. Anyway, now that Relentless will no longer be an issue, shall we go?"
With a casual wave of the hand, a portal formed behind Chronoa. Inside the portal displayed an image of the Underworld.
Such finality cut away doubts.
"Wait. I have several questions. Hypothetically, say if you're right, how did Relentless become a human?"
She can't go, the ex-demon has way too many questions that demand to be answered.
"I suppressed its memories and forced its ego into a human shell. From there, I planned to have it experience the life of a human."
"Why? Why go through all this? Why turn me into a human?"
"It is a requirement for the permanent end of Relentless. It's a ritual to turn Relentless into a flawed being, a human, and degrade its perfection. You were an early warning system to alert me in case Relentless was breaking free from its human shell. Being a human allowed you to come closer to the human Relentless than had you remained a demon."
That can't be the full story, Violet thought. No, her guts are telling her that Chronoa's full plan goes much further than that.
"How much of my life as a human did you plan out?"
"Almost none," Chronoa said calmly, "I only intervened when a decision would result in Relentless returning."
"And Relentless is no longer a problem now...?"
Chronoa nodded, "indeed. The monster has been dealt with, and shall no longer be a problem."
The way that Chronoa spoke had Violet's skin tingle in discomfort and suspicion. There's definitely something more, but the woman no longer wants to know more. Today has been especially tiring, specifically on an emotional level.
"So what now?" Violet asked as she sighed. Her hands that drooped powerlessly like noodles now gestured around her, "Do I just return to the Underworld? Do I just stay here?"
"Time flows differently across different universes. Entropy occurs far slower in this World, so hundreds of years have passed in the Cardinal World. I would prefer if you would return."
The demon sighed. During the conversation, Violet could feel her power as a Primordial Demon returned. At first, it was small, but when her iconic purple hair returned, it became obvious.
That's not even speaking about how she could finally feel her Ultimate Skill [Samael] within the depth of her spirit.
"Fine, let me say goodbye at least."
A pair of bat-like wings spread out from Violet's back. With a single flap, the Primordial Demon launched herself up above the raining clouds, escaping the world of humans.
As she floated up there in the mesosphere, high above any human development, Violet stared at the blue sky in contemplation like a person whose near the end of a life-changing journey.
She really doesn't want it to end.
"It's just like a dream. A wonderful dream." Her eyes softened as she stared at the Moon, "I will definitely look back fondly on this."
Gravity took hold of Violet as she started to fall. Even at terminal velocity, it took a while for Violet to hit the ground, thus the purple-haired demon reflected back on her time as a human.
The first fright of the unknown.
The drowning.
The passion for computers.
The high school life.
The mismatch in communication.
The university.
Volunteering for the local community center.
Her parents and her brother: those who saw her grew up through it all.
A smile formed on Violet's lips. She could see the nearby skyscrapers now.
Ah, if only she could say goodbye to her brother. She would pray, but the demon was there when God died.
Just as Violet was about to hit the rooftop of one of the skyscrapers, her speed slowed down so quickly that the deceleration would've shattered glass. The demon stared off at the cityscape as she contemplated how she was going to tell her parents about this.
In the end, the demon decided to craft a human version of herself and transferred a copy of her memory. Magic is much harder to perform in this world, so much so that any human mage that does crossover to this world would be unable to call upon any spells.
It still isn't a problem for a demon.
Bones grew like trees, and muscles and tendons quickly followed. A shell of skin then blanketed everything.
A naked version of her human self was in front of her.
Now for the memories.
Human cultures like to think of memories as something 'special', something 'magical' when in reality it's anything but. Memories for a human are information encoded in the brain. When a human perceives information from their senses, a harmless electric shock runs through their nervous system and into the brain, where the information is then 'memorized' or 'encoded' through an alteration to the existing neuron pathways.
It is very similar to how CDs encode information based on the grooves on the disk's back.
Thus, to create false memories, all one has to do is carefully alter some of the 86 billion neurons and their pathways within the human brain. It is an impossible task for a human, but not for a Primordial Demon.
After that's done, Violet then formed appropriate clothing for the newly created woman.
All that's missing is now a soul.
Newborns, no matter their type, do not possess a soul.
For some reason unknown to any of the Primordial Demons, it is through the countless electric shocks that course through a human's brain that Souls form. No one knows why this was the case. Through the eons, many tests have been performed but even still, no one is closer to an answer.
The best explanation for this phenomenon is that the electromagnetic force is deeply entwined with the spirit. These electric shocks somehow either create Essence, the fundamental building block of the soul, or draw it out from another realm similar to how if someone dips their finger into the lake and pulls it out, a tiny residue of moisture resides upon that finger. With enough dips, they can fill a glass. The latter is considered to be more likely with the existence of the Otherworlders.
However, this doesn't explain how some animals like whales who can remember their birthplace don't possess a soul.
Violet's lips then thinned.
And thank goodness there's such a strict requirement for souls. If newborns did possess souls, Awaken Demon Lords could be churned out on an industrial scale as Monster kings enslave thousands of human women like cattle before impregnating them. Like farmers, after nine months, those monster kings can then sacrifice the newborns to the Voice of the World to gain Skills or to evolve.
A shiver ran through Violet's back at the disturbing thought. The demon then reflected how if this had been the old her, she probably would've preferred there being more Demon Lords since that'd make things much more interesting.
Ignoring her previous thoughts, Violet's attention returned to the present, and stared at the woman in front of her, now possessing her entire set of human memories just waiting to be active.
The easiest way to say goodbye is never to say it at all. It would be the easiest for her human parents if it looked like she had never left, especially when they'd just lost a son. Any discrepancies that may alert someone that this is an imposter would be attributed to the simple fact that her brother had just died.
With another spatial spell, Violet had Kathy teleported back into her human home.
For some reason, Violet felt her heart shatter. Perhaps it was by sending a clone of herself, that she had effectively replaced herself. Perhaps it was the fact that this was the final moment of a happier time. Perhaps it was the fact that she gained a new hatred for goodbyes.
The Purple Primordial doesn't know. She couldn't fully unravel, couldn't fully express the complicated vortex of feelings within her right this instance.
"How pathetic," Violet's eyes swept across the city she lived in, then looked down at the humans below, "I could see all the lights of the electromagnetic spectrum and beyond, I can observe the very atoms themselves, the clouds of possibility with [Magic Sense]. Yet I couldn't put my feelings into proper words. I've truly changed."
Violet then looked at her open hands with a sad smile. Then those hands closed as if crushing any resistance. She then stared at the people below, walking in the streets, the thousands of people all underneath her, all of them having their own story each just as rich or even richer than her own human self.
It was a sonder thought.
It was a humbling realization.
"I'm ready. Let's go."
In response, a portal opened up behind the Primordial Demon, a portal to her home dimension. Chronoa was nowhere to be seen.
The Purple Primordial entered and found herself in the middle of a ruined castle.
With but a thought, the castle reformed itself into something resembling the childhood home of her human self, only much bigger.
Next, Violet slowly sat down on the porch and was content to merely exist within this memory. She was content to continue in this dream until eventually, the memories faded.
The literal trip down memory lane was cut short when Noir arrived.
Sensing an opportunity to return to the material world and perhaps do some good this time, Violet agreed.
So, when the Purple Primordial crossed over, she found herself in the middle of a war zone, with what appears to be Eastern Empire forces on one side and modern humans on the other.
It was such a surreal scene seeing modern technology in the Cardinal World. Where the hell are the Angels?
Before Violet could contemplate on this for any longer, Noir erased every Eastern Empire soldier with a single spell that shot out thousands of twisting and turning magical homing beams that bore through the soldier's armor as if it were nothing.
Violet felt a transfer of thousands of souls.
"Use that to make yourself a material body."
A smirk formed on Violet's face as she easily slipped back into her old self, especially with Noir here, "oh my Noir, I never thought you would be so generous!"
The Black Primordial's face twitched in response.
"Just quickly make the body. My Mistress is in need of support."
A person who Noir finds worthy? Fascinating.
Noir was the most free-spirited and whimsical out of all of the Primordials. So to hear him tying himself to a summoner was like hearing Stalin talk about the greatness of capitalism.
"Who's your Mistress?" Violet spoke in a sickeningly sweet voice.
"Her name is Scientia Tempest, and she is possibly the closest to uncovering the Truth of the World."
"Mmhmm, plenty of people have come close to that fabled 'Truth' you always go on about, what makes you think this one is the closest?"
"Well, for one, she's made life so much more interesting with technology. What's more, the Angels aren't doing anything to curb her technological growth."
"...That IS weird."
Feeling intrigued, Violet followed Noir and found herself in a hallway that reminds her extremely of some sci-fi films she's watched.
Knocking and then heading in first, Noir apologized and was about to go on a speech trying to justify the delay before Violet shoved Noir aside.
The small Primordial looked around the room until her gaze settled on a Perfect Homunculus of all things.
"K—Kathy?"
The Primordial in question charged up a [Poison Bullet] with [Samael], "I'm going to give you five seconds to tell me how in the hell you know that name."
Noir tried to go for a counter-offense while Jaune and another blonde shielded the Perfect Homunculus. Being without an Ultimate Skill, Noir was relatively easy to pacify, just one hit had him flung across multiple rooms.
"Wait!" The Perfect Homunculus was drowned out as people either tried to scram away or moved to defend the Perfect Homunculus.
It was complete chaos.
"I SAID STOP!" A single shout from the Perfect Homunculus and the room quieted down. It was rather interesting how much control it had over everyone in the room.
It turned to face Violet with those yellow eyes of it, "I am an Otherworlder, a Reincarnator to be exact. You looked exactly like someone from my past, so the words came out of my mouth before I could fully comprehend them. I apologize if the name 'Kathy' was important to you."
Violet's eyes narrowed. Impossible. It can't be. It was not possible.
"Does the name '*******' mean anything to you?"
"... should it?" The Perfect Homunculus tilted its head as it asked, "I mean, I'm sorry but some of my memories of my old life were fragmented, however, what I do know was that I died because of a stab in my back—"
The [Poison Bullet] was dispelled, "impossible— brother?"
The Perfect Homunculus looked stunned before quickly recovering. Asking for privacy, everyone left except for the Primordials and that other blonde with red eyes who was glaring with visible hostility at Violet.
The Perfect Homunculus then asked how she, a Primordial Demon, was Kathy. Violet hesitated for a brief few moments, internally debating on whether or not she should tell him before finally spilling the beans about Relentless, about how the Hero Chronoa had asked Violet to serve as an early warning system, about her entire life as a human, and how it ended.
Throughout her entire telling, her brother was silent, though she could see in his eyes conflicting emotions.
He was struggling to make sense of it all. Violet couldn't blame him, his entire worldview had just been unended and all.
"I see," that was all he said after she had finished, "it seems I need to deal with certain things before we could escape."
Her brother got up, and stared up at the ceiling, his eyes showing a faraway look as though he was staring at the edge of the universe, as though his very soul left his body. After several seconds, her brother returned.
"I've activated the Ark Protocol, we're leaving in three days.
"What do you mean?"
"The System is Dying. I have this Unique Skill that allows me to create super technologies the likes of which only existed in science fiction—"
Violet rolled her eyes, "Of course, you're going to get a Skill that allows you to build sci-fi tech."
Her brother looked at Violet with an exasperated look as if he was telling her not now, "Anyway, to catch you up to speed, I've made an Ark that would allow us to survive in the Great Beyond. Originally, I planned to win this war, but if this Chronoa as you described could do the thing you said then it's quite likely she's the one who planned out the Space Elevator Bombing and the coming World War. I'm not dealing with that. I'm not playing her game. I'll set up the Ark so that it'll teleport the entirety of the Jura Tempest Republic and her allies onto the ship before we escape to the Great Beyond."
Violet stared at her brother with confusion clear on her face. She couldn't comprehend what he was doing.
Escaping the System? As in, escaping the Voice of the World? "Are you insane? Why would you escape the System?"
Her brother stared at her as though she was the odd one.
"The System is dying—"
"Who the fuck told you that?!"
"Guy Crimson."
Like a bullet, that name killed any resistance from Violet. "Alright, I see, so he said that the System that Veldanava made was dying?"
Her brother nodded.
"Be right back."
Violet tried to teleport out, only to find her appearing in the same spot she was in before. The Purple Primordial tried again and failed. It then dawned upon her that something was interfering with her teleportation.
"Oh right, there's some spatial interdiction magic in place to block any unauthorized teleportation— where are you going anyway?"
Focusing, Violet finally opened a dark green portal beside her, bypassing the interdiction field much to the surprise of her brother, "To ask Guy if the System was really dying."
"Can you do that later? I really... want to catch up a bit." Her brother was uncharacteristically meek as he said that. "And I kinda need some distraction before I freak out about how I am Relentless."
In other cases, Scientia would've never believed anyone claiming the Perfect Homunculus was Relentless. Violet's tale was almost too ridiculous to believe, so she'll subtly quiz the Purple Primordial over the coming chat.
Thinking about her brother's proposition, Violet couldn't help but agree it's been a while since they've last had a proper talk, "Fine, I'll ask Guy later."
The dark green portal disappeared as if it never existed.
"Perfect!" Her brother clapped his hands twice and Violet felt the minute disturbance through the fabric of spacetime she was residing upon.
Looking at the source of the disturbance, Violet found another portal in the shape of a doorframe, pitch-black in color with a purple outline. The Primordial Demon found her mind blanking at the casual creation of a portal without the use of magicules.
"Arcueid, could I please have some privacy?"
The woman who was clinging onto her brother's neck, Arcueid, replied with a sharp "No."
Her brother sighed exasperatingly as Arcueid continued to hold the Perfect Homunculus in place, "alright."
Violet secretly glanced at her brother during the verbal exchange with the woman. Based on how close they are, even a simpleton could connect the dots.
The edge of Violet's mouth curved downward slightly. It was good to see her brother being with someone he truly loved, and who truly loved him back, but she should vet the woman. Fools in love have caused plenty of catastrophes both in the Cardinal World and the Human World.
"Um, Kathy, you don't mind Arcueid being here right?"
Violet waved her brother off, "Of course not," a calm smile dawned upon the Primordial's face, "I do want to see just what kind of woman my brother loves."
Sparks flew between Violet and Arcueid. The latter's eyes narrowed, and the blonde woman then squished her brother's head into her chest and held him there protectively as though he were a baby.
"Arcueid, I know that this is comfortable and all, but could you please release me so I could walk properly?"
_____________________________________________
After walking through the portal, Violet found herself on a balcony plucked straight from a fairy tale: the table and chairs were richly decorated, the ceiling above had the night sky itself graphed onto its surface, and each star within that false night sky was glowing softly, being extremely easy on the eyes. On top of the table were snacks and a tea set.
The most interesting thing about the balcony was that it was floating. It was a disk hovering above a lake. A large artificial lake.
All of it was a hologram, yet it was real enough that with only her normal senses like sight and hearing, the Primordial would've never known that it wasn't real. With her [Magic Sense], Violet could tell the room was no bigger than your typical medium-sized warehouse.
"Man, what kind of bullshit technology allowed you to do this?" Violet stood at the edge of the balcony and observed her surroundings. The current hologram depicted the Canadian wilderness, bringing out a feeling of nostalgia for the Purple Primordial.
"Ah well," replied her brother as he poured out tea for the Primordial to drink, "as it turns out, photons are some of the most mysterious things in the Universe. It has several properties unknown to 21st Century physicists, namely how it interacts with the Spirit."
Instead of the lab coat, he had worn before in that meeting room, her brother now wore a casual long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans. He and the blonde sat on one end of the table with another chair situated on the opposite.
Seeing as how her tea was ready, Violet strode forth to her seat and sat on it. Taking a small sip of the tea, her brows furrowed as the taste was something she's never tasted before.
Her brother chuckled a bit at her reaction.
"What is this tea? I've never tasted this chemical compound before."
Another hologram projected from the table depicted the chemical structure. Violet wasn't paying attention to that, instead, her eyes were drawn to how the table had a built-in hologram projector.
"I like holograms. I really do."
Due to how chalk-white her brother's skin was, Violet could see clearly how there was a hint of redness on his cheeks.
"Bro, there's a difference between 'liking' and 'obsessing'. This falls into the latter." Violet said before chuckling.
"I really like holograms." Her brother repeated, "Anyways... how's mom and dad after..."
Violet's eyes had a distant look in them, finally replying, "I created a perfect clone of myself down to the last cell and memory to take my place. They... they cried at your funeral." Unlike her, Violet's mind automatically added, the words almost came out of the Primordial's mouth, "They should be getting better."
Her brother's lips pursed as he took a sip of the liquid.
"I see."
The other blonde's hands came up and grasped her brother's in a caring manner.
Seeing how the mood soured immensely, Violet snapped her fingers and pointed to the couple. The topic quickly changed.
"So what's the story here?"
The two shared a look before her brother moved to reply, only to be cut off when the blonde clung to her brother like tape.
"I am Arcueid Brunestud, partner of Scientia Tempest."
"... 'Knowledge'? Your name in this new world is knowledge? Also Tempest?"
Her brother, Scientia, opened his mouth but no sound came out. Moments later, he closed it and took a deep breath. He, Scientia, then grasped the armrest, "Right, I should probably tell my story now. Okay—"
Another port opened on the ground to reveal a hologram projector. Violet had a smug smile as her brother stared at the projector before turning to face the Demon.
"—Shut up, I do not have an obsession with holograms. Anyway, so I reincarnated almost a year ago and met up with one of the four True Dragons called Veldora alongside a reincarnated slime."
Violet's eyes twitched. That has got to be one of the most ridiculous reincarnation stories she's ever heard.
"So being given a name by the True Dragon, the slime— Rimuru was his name by the way— and I made our way out of the dungeon where Veldora was trapped in. We set up shop in a goblin village north of the Kusha mountain range."
From the projector, an image of a run-down primitive village the likes of which Violet has only seen in documentaries about Africa materialized into existence.
"From there, we— or rather, I uplifted the local population, economically, socially, and technologically. In retrospect, I half-expected the goblins to reject some of the more progressive ideas like homosexuality and democracy... considering how hostile human history was."
Violet nodded along absentmindedly. History was a class she never excelled in.
"Afterward, I slayed an Orc Disaster, a flying manta ray, and made a pact with the local Dryads, wherein they wouldn't stop us from expanding into the rest of the Jura Forest. Then... well, when returning from a diplomatic meeting, Rimuru was assassinated by a member of the Western Holy Church."
Her brother's eyes hardened. The Primordial felt a hole open in her stomach as the situation described by Scientia sounds exactly like the circumstances that led to him ruining Tom's life.
Scientia's eyes stared into the hologram of the Canadian wilderness before returning to Violet. "At the same time, a nearby nation of Falmuth decided to invade. With the aid of Veldora, we slaughtered the army and I, using the Harvest Festival, became a Demon Lord and revived Rimuru. A Walpurgis Banquet was called, and well, I became an official member of Qliphoth, a new name for the Ten Great Demon Lords. As you know, it was during that Walpurgis where I learned about the End of the System, and during the time between now and then, I built an Ark and an escape hatch."
Violet's eyes depicted indecipherable emotions. The atmosphere in this balcony became tense after Scientia had finished speaking.
"I see. Then..." Where the hell are you, Chronoa? Violet wanted to ask. In the next moment, a smile appeared on her lips.
"Dang bro, that's quite the story," Violet said jokingly and snapped her fingers, killing the tension immediately. "Look at you! In less than a year and you're now responsible for saving the system. We can make a religion out of this! In fact, lesser deeds have already been made into religions."
Scientia stared at Violet for a brief few seconds before laughing, "Oh god, please don't remind me of the numerous cults that worship me. Sometimes I think freedom of religion is a mistake."
She missed this, Violet repeated inside her head, it's been... years since they've last had a chat.
After settling down from the laughter, her brother took a sip of the tea. Violet's eyes never left him, and while he may be of a different race, Scientia will always be her brother no matter what form he takes.
"Although... 'she'?"
"Ah, about that. Honestly, I never really cared. I know how in my old life, such identities were causes for heated debates, but I couldn't care less. For me, when I was an Assistant VP, so long as the workers under me continue their output, I really couldn't care about their personal life. I'm a pure meritocrat." Her brother shrugged, "And well, in this new World, I don't possess any reproductive organs, so when others called me 'Lady Scientia' (probably because of the feminine nature of that name) I sorta just let them."
The Purple Primordial nodded slowly. She understood her brother's standpoint. Demons are inherently flexible creatures with no real form, and the current shape Violet took was the result of a flight of fancy from millions of years ago.
"Well, Scientia, you'll always be my brother."
Watching her stoic brother blush was a treat for the eyes.
A silence descended onto the balcony. Minutes later, her brother looked like she wanted to ask her a question yet every time she opens her mouth, no words come out and the Perfect Homunculus acts like she hasn't just tried to speak.
Nervousness practically emanated from Scientia. If the looks Arcueid is giving her brother is any indication, her brother must rarely, if ever, look so unsure of herself. It made sense since to climb as fast as her brother did in the corporate scene, confidence is key.
Only one thing comes to mind that would make someone like her brother nervous.
"You..." Violet trailed off, and the silence between them turned awkward, "I was never ra— forced down upon."
Confusion showed on her brother's face, "what? But how?"
Violet sighed and cracked her fingers for some brief distraction.
"He... actually saved me. I was walking away from the computer store that night. This... guy, ambushed me and threw me into the alleyway between the computer store and the next store. Before he could go any further, Tom appeared and threw him off me. I... ran, after that. As a Primordial Demon, even if I was only a human, I still retain this pride of being the strongest demon. Being overpowered so easily brought shame to that, so I never spoke of it."
Her brother became still, the Perfect Homunculus' jaw slightly ajar as Violet spoke. After finishing, Scientia closed her mouth while scratching her chin.
The silence was deafening.
It took a minute before Scientia spoke up once again, "I see. I guess I owe him an apology."
"No, I should've been more clear—"
Her brother raised a hand and stopped Violet's words dead in their tracks, "I shouldn't have been so rash. Now I condemned three people and ruined their lives."
Secretly, ******* ensured that Tom would never attain a good-paying job by spreading rumors of what he'd done. ******* made sure Tom would always be living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to make ends meet. But now that ******* is no longer in the land of the living, Tom should be able to start getting better. A small, but comforting thought for Scientia.
That thought was immediately crushed when the End of the System reared its head.
The guilt almost became overpowering when the Perfect Homunculus realized just how many other 'Tom'— innocents— would be left behind across the entirety of the System.
An uncountable number of tragedies.
The atmosphere became gloomy and melancholic, her brother had a grim expression on her face while the blonde— Arcueid— looked puzzled.
"So, about this Ark," Violet readjusted her image of her brother, placing new topics on a mental conversational ban list, "what is it exactly?"
The topic was changed once more as Violet tried to keep her brother's spirits up.
A white, featureless sphere materialized above the table, courtesy of another hologram projector.
"This Ark is the culmination of my technology. I named it Project Mobius after the Mobius strip, in hopes that it too would become endless." Poetic, Violet noted, "A hyper-advanced craft that resides inside its own higher-dimensional space, the Ark will serve as our habitat and our defense when we go into the Great Beyond."
Violet stared at Ark used to escape the system. Though lacking in any features, it had an otherworldly presence.
"I assume your Unique Skill had something to do with technology?"
Her brother nodded, "Indeed. Without Unique Skill [Inspired Inventor], I don't think I could've ever built this."
The Purple Primordial's eyes harden as she stared at the white sphere. Her face scrunched up in confusion at the impossibility in front of her. Her brother built this 'Ark' with only a Unique Skill. An Ark that's designed to carry people out of the System... This is easily more powerful than some Ultimate Skills! Violet reflected, it doesn't make sense! Unique Skills more powerful than Ultimate Skills?
Part of the Primordial's mind wondered if the World has gone insane ever since she had left for that human world.
Oh wait, the world is ending, so a little insanity near the end is acceptable.
But still...
"Are you sure you only have a Unique Skill? This type of technology that can somehow ferry people out of the System is easily on the level of an Ultimate Skill. Also, could your Ark even survive the Great Beyond?"
"I'm sure that [Inspired Inventor] is a Unique Skill the last time I checked. As for whether or not the Ark can survive..." Scientia stilled, her lips thinned to such a degree Violet can barely see them, "I can't be too sure, since I wasn't able to compile a comprehensive Theory of Everything that includes the Greater Multiverse. I figured if anything can survive within the Great Beyond, it'll be a mobile universe."
Violet stared at her brother, the Perfect Homunculus' face showing only seriousness.
"You know what you're saying sounds like total bullshit right?"
"Any more bullshit than you turning out to be a Primordial Demon?"
"Point..." To somehow replicate the effect of a World-type Skill... was a hard pill to swallow. World-type Skills are among the rarest and most deadly Skills within the entire System, as they allow the user to effectively create and control their own imaginary world. Due to all World-type Skills being equal in deadliness, the users are ranked by how easily they can get an enemy into their personal world.
"So how did you do it?" At her confused look, Violet elaborated, "the universe I mean. How did you do it?"
A large smile appeared on her brother's face, like a teacher who's glad that one of their students is interested in what they're teaching, "do you want the long version or the short version?"
"Any."
Another hologram appeared near the fringes of her brother's sight, displaying the time.
"Well, I guess I'll give you the short version then. Keep in mind that I'm using a lot of metaphors and other words to simplify what I'm talking about. You can even think of it as me telling a story. I altered the dimensionality within a Pocket Universe, then I embed the Ark into that high-dimensional universe. What you're seeing when you see the Ark is actually its presence within the current universe since our senses cannot perceive those higher dimensions."
"You know you sound like a total lunatic right?"
"Yeah, but so does Quantum Physics and Supercausality to any individual coming from our old world. In a way, H. P. Lovecraft wasn't wrong: Reality becomes stranger and stranger the more you uncover it." Her brother shot back with a bit of snark. Her love of literature and using those to back herself up in arguments reminded Violet painfully of how they used chat.
"I missed you, brother." The Purple Primordial uncontrollably blurted out, her vision was blurred by something wet. "I missed you so much."
Moments later, Violet felt a pair of arms coil around her shoulder.
"I missed you too, Kathy."
They stayed like that for a while even as Violet was named. Even after coming out of the cocoon and Kathy becoming a Demon Peer, both never let go of the other.
This continued until the other occupant in the room coughed.
"This is sweet... Tia, I want to have a moment of privacy with Kathy here."
"Arcueid—"
"Tia, please."
Her brother was taken aback, before relenting. Kathy looked at the disappearing form of the Perfect Homunculus, a part of herself was in shock at someone somehow controlling her brother, the same individual who dove into a rushing river without a second thought.
"Now, Kathy~" A strange feeling washed over the Purple Primordial. Her senses told her that all the probabilities within the local spacetime have been changed.
The white woman whom she previously easily ignored was now impossible to neglect, for somehow she now dominates the room.
"You're not a simple partner for my brother, are you?"
The woman smiled, showing her fangs.
What followed was a verbal battle that took every bit of Kathy's wit as the blonde vampire grilled her about everything. While it's annoying, the battle made Kathy feel more assured about her brother's choice of partners.
Arcueid really cares a lot for Scientia.
So a few days after that, her brother announced the arrival of the Ark, the Encyclopedia Universalis. Just as Kathy felt herself being teleported onto the Ark, the Purple Primordial found herself in the middle of a familiar hallway, with Noir standing in front of a door, his hands on the knob and about to turn it.
"Noir?"
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