Sister Carrie found her voice gone when the one called Servi asked if she needed anything. Verta’s overflowing emotions spilled onto the singi and affected her outward demeanor.

  “Your name…is Itarr, correct?”

  “That’s right,” replied the Primordial Goddess.

  Sister Carrie hesitated once again before introducing herself. “May I enter?”

  The Queen of Night nodded. She prepared tea as they sat around the kitchen table. Silence reigned supreme. Itarr grabbed her friends’ arms. The shuddering was slight, but it was there. She felt a twisted churning deep in her stomach.

  “So? How do you know her?” Servi asked. Her fiery eyes adopted a gaze sterner than the vixarian’s, but the two were on alert. The same was true for the teenage Bicornkin and that brown-haired child. Fisher had lost his renowned passive skill, but the experience it had engrained into his muscles remained. The pretty boy with golden eyes kept a hand on his bde’s pommel.

  “It concerns…” It was barely noticeable, but Sister Carrie motioned to a simple red band with her eyes. “May we speak in…there?” The nun stressed the st sylble and hoped Servi understood.

  Relief washed over her fluffy ears when Servi nodded. She pulled out a weird device and moved her fingers. The other ring bearers looked at simir objects. Percival was irritated, but he kept it hidden. Servi, Itarr, and Momo led the nun to their room. Percival tried arguing his way in. Servi could hear his protests as the two undead revenants stood before the door, preventing him from entering.

  Immediately, Sister Carrie wept once they were alone. Verta’s truth flowed through her emotions.

  The vixarian curse was...so, so cruel.

  “You know more than you let on,” Servi added in a low whisper. She didn’t disguise the edge in her voice. “Speak. Now.” Itarr adopted a brave, unsteady stance. Sister Carrie held an outstretched hand to Momo, who hesitated before grabbing it. Servi took the nun’s other hand. Itarr found her fingers gripped by her closest friends as a soft crimson glow enveloped their bodies.

  When they next blinked, they were within Itarr’s soul world. The sea of crimson... The thick, vicious fountain of blood was as accurate as what Verta said.

  That tower… It stretched beyond infinity, looking more malicious and heretical than holy and divine.

  *****

  *****

  “You don’t look surprised to see something like that,” I said, observing the nun’s reaction. She saw Nyxaris and the other undead, who were on alert. They wouldn’t attack without my permission. Momo stood nearby, but her mirror wasn’t out. Her tail was bristled, though. The fur stuck out like porcupine needles.

  “You…know about me, right?” Itarr looked past my shoulders and found courage. She cautiously approached, steadying her voice the best she could. “Please, tell me! I want to know who I really am!”

  “Forgive me, but I am not the one with the answers. She has them.” The nun pointed to the grassy courtyard behind the fountain.

  An orb of yellow energy morphed into a humanoid shape, resembling what Itarr used to look like before she obtained her current appearance. It shattered like gss, revealing a woman with a motherly, beautiful figure. She opened her eyes to reveal rainbow irises and began to cry. Her crown of flowers seemingly wept. The lovely piece of nature rained petals that stuck to her pastel-colored elegant garments.

  “Mother… Oh, it’s you… Mother!!!” Her voice was as shaky as a waterfall.

  “Mother?!” Momo and I excimed.

  The woman stumbled forward, falling to the grass. Itarr refused to approach. She crafted a trident of dirt, yet it wasn’t steady. It was already falling apart after a few seconds. “Are you with those faceless invaders?! The ones who showed up when we obtained [Necromancy]? You feel just like them!”

  “You truly don’t remember me, Mother? My name is Verta.”

  “I don’t—I don’t understand what’s happening!” Itarr shivered as she clutched her chest. Carrie tried to approach, but I manifested my scythe to keep her at bay. Nyxaris was already ringing their bell while preparing a spell. I aimed my acid pistol at Itarr’s ‘daughter.’ Momo drew her sword while manifesting the mirror. It was locked onto the two strangers.

  “Do you believe me to be an enemy?” Verta asked.

  “Yes!” excimed Itarr, who struggled to her feet.

  Verta’s smile was as sad as her expression. Nonetheless, she walked to the fountain, sitting as all eyes turned to her.

  “When you first met Servi... did you not notice a skill called [Lover’s Blossom]?”

  “I…did.” Itarr lowered the trident.

  “Do you know why it was avaible without being on the [Forbidden Skill System]?”

  “I--”

  “Now, my dearest sister, be careful of what you say,” said a voice I thought I had hallucinated. My heart sank to my stomach.

  It was happening again, but the millions of faceless entities weren’t present. It was a single person who looked like a silhouette csped in thick, unmoving shadow. It obscured their features as they descended downward.

  The jerky, mechanical movements of the st time weren’t present, so I presumed that was to unnerve us.

  Silence erupted. It felt like I had forgotten how to talk. Momo’s teeth chittered as she desperately grabbed my hand. This was her first time experiencing this.

  “It feels like an eon has passed since I st saw you.” The voice was masculine and smooth, and I knew this person was the st one we had talked to during that incident. I knew his eyes stared at my face even if I couldn’t see them. His gaze passed to Momo. Did he...roll his eyes? His expression... He didn’t have one, but he felt annoyed.

  “Tobris!” excimed Verta, barring her teeth. The ground quaked under her, but—

  Tobris?! As in the Divine Principality of Tobris?! The Chief Deity?

  Itarr suddenly screamed. She jabbed her trident into the ground for support.

  “Mother, he’s the traitor! You’re—"

  “That is not how I remember it,” replied Tobris. “I correctly recall you being the first of our mother’s children to ire of her rule.”

  “That’s not true!!!” Verta pleaded with Itarr, but she looked like a deer caught in a car's headlights. Panic consumed her face. She looked to us for help. Momo and I held her tightly in our arms. It felt like she’d shatter like gss if we used an ounce more force.

  “Oh, but it is.”

  “Mother, you must believe me! This—”

  Tobris raised an arm to the sky. It shattered without being broken. The raining fragments of infinity danced around Verta and jabbed into her flesh, but it didn’t look like it hurt. It didn’t stop Carrie from running over, though.

  “Servi, you must know—” Verta’s voice was instantly cut off. Her mouth moved, but there wasn’t any sound. Dark bck spots manifested across her skin. Thick cws formed from them. They cut her apart like a butcher chopping meat. She screamed in pain, the shockwave throwing Carrie away, but the nun recovered without dey. She was back beside Verta within a second.

  Tobris snapped his fingers. “Consider it a warning. Better yet, a new rule.”

  “Rule?” I found my voice. I’d never felt so timid, but this wasn’t the time for trepidation! Momo opened her mouth, but she couldn’t produce a voice. Her mirror flickered out of existence like it couldn’t stand Tobris’s presence.

  Just speak, Servi! Keep talking. If you don’t, you probably won’t be able to resume.

  “Those entities mentioned a game. They said it’s been 14 attempts since [Necromancy] has been the starting gift,” I said, speaking anything that came to mind.

  “A game?” Tobris looked surprised at my conclusion. I didn’t trust this bastard because emotions could be falsified. “An interesting theory. However, this being a game implied that it has happened before. I’m sure you understand the realization of that.”

  “You won’t confirm it?”

  If this is a game… Are we pying pieces? Those faceless figures from back then called us that, but… Are we being reset?

  “Where’s the fun in that?” Tobris smiled. I didn’t see a mouth, but I knew he was smugly grinning. “I won’t say anything that can confirm or deny your thoughts. But I understand how frustrating it can be without memories. Allow your eldest son to correct that, Mother.” He raised a hand to the sky, and we were all transported to a room filled with white light. But it wasn’t enclosed. I saw Itarr’s tower far below us amongst a sea of bloody crimson.

  It was like a toothpick. That was how big it looked to me.

  Are we…higher than Infinity?

  Chairs uprooted from nothingness, and an unknown force compelled us to sit. I fought like hell and struggled, but it was like an ant pying with a lion.

  I couldn’t speak. None of us could. Itarr was restrained more than the others as Tobris floated in the middle.

  “Long ago… Before this world was but a mere concept… Before I was a speck of dust in your almighty eyes… You were born into this universe as its cornerstone—its foundation,” Tobris said, beginning his tale. A visualization of the Big Bang occurred above him and was altered to visually reference what Tobris said. “With your infinite power and wisdom brought about by the Akashic Record, you saw fit to create others in your image. Gods and goddesses… Your children… You made us, and we made the world. We made many realities many times, and we destroyed as many as we created. Yet… Your eldest daughter grew tired of your rule. She convinced you to lower yourself to our level, then organized a rebellion to cast you out of the heavens.”

  “…” Verta remained quiet. She couldn’t stop the tears from spewing down her face.

  “Divine constructs such as us can feel regret. We can be happy and sad. We can experience despair and joy as easily as anger and wrath flow through our immortal bodies. As such… We can be tempted…because you made us with fws. We exist to be imperfect. You failed to craft us with the love you commanded us to show our creations. Verta took the lingering hatred to heart, Mother. She cast a line of usurpation that hooked many.”

  “…” No one could speak. Tobris continued.

  “Verta elected me to rule. Time to us? It doesn’t exist. But it developed in her heart. She became beholden by its grasp and regretted her actions. She organized a group to break you from the seal she crafted, but we couldn’t have that. Her co-conspirators... I can’t reveal their fates, but my dear sister suffered the punishment she designed for you. But she committed a far greater sin—one I cannot ignore. I’m sure you know it as [Lover’s Blossom]. The Akashic Record is how your power was granted to you, Mother. Verta went behind my back and used the st of her godly powers to etch her pride and joy onto your disgusting [Forbidden Skill System]. The Goddess of Family and Love means it to be an apology, but I don’t think traitors can be so easily forgiven.”

  Tobris said the [Forbidden Skill System] was what Itarr was working on before she was cast out. That was why the skills were incomplete. They really weren’t anywhere close to being finished. Itarr was immortal because she was still the cornerstone to everything that would ever exist in the infinite multiverse, and [True Absorption] was Itarr breaking down reality into its most primal states of elements. Souls were returning to their ‘home.’

  Her powers… They made sense now. The answer was always right there. I didn’t look deep enough.

  “It can all be traced back to you,” said Tobris. “Killing you would mean the end of everything observable. You are…the foundation for all of reality… Your blood crystals are the blood of the Primordial Goddess. They are the universe’s building blocks. It exists within all of us—within the rain and trees…inside the skill energy fueling the [Warden Skill System]. Your blood still holds its power. It is a loophole, yet it cannot be closed. The Akashic Record, while almighty, cannot go against its core prime directive.”

  My bullshit meter was going off. There was something…that wasn’t making sense. Tobris teleported after catching my gaze. A shadowy hand grabbed my cheek. He gripped hard enough to tear off my skin. “Your host has inherited the powers of the universe, yet this is all she can muster? You used to be much stronger, Mother. The eons you spent eroding within the seal Verta had crafted… I never expected it to have degraded you to such a state. It almost makes me want to weep.”

  “Then why not return Itarr to power?!” I barked, going against my instinct.

  His vague face looked at me as if I was an invalid. “Why? Verta has shown us a world where we aren’t beholden to such limiting rules. We aren’t restricted. Freedom? It’s all around us.” Tobris raised his arms. “We are world makers! We are messiahs of creation! We craft! We destroy! We rebuild! But her!” He pointed at Itarr. “Her limits stifled our creativity!”

  I couldn’t believe it. “Are you serious?! That’s—” Tobris palmed my head. I felt my skull shatter a thousand times as he ‘pulsed’ his grip.

  His voice went low. It sent chills surging through my veins like ice. “To a god born with the task of creation… Being prevented from acting their mission is akin to… No. I won’t say it. You don’t deserve to know. Killing you wouldn't achieve anything meaningful. You’d only return.”

  Tobris returned to the middle of the floating room. He snapped his fingers, and Momo vanished. She appeared near him a second ter. He grabbed her by the throat and slowly squeezed.

  I lost it. My rage bubbled deep. Tobris's invisible restraints cut off circution to my limbs. I shouted my displeasure! I swore to disembowel him, but something slit my throat a dozen ways and viscerally pulled my vocal cords like a puppet master controlling a puppet’s strings. They were yanked out of my body throat. An unknown force tauntingly made them dance.

  My rage dulled the pain.

  “Your reaction... I knew it would be votile. Do you know what this...thing is?” He squeezed tighter. Momo struggled. She tried to pry his fingers. Her shaky mirror finally turned to Tobris, but he clutched it-- squashing it into a ball. The gss didn’t shatter—it just crumbled like scrap paper.

  All I thought was killing him until an outside hijacked my emotions and forced me to calm down. But it wasn’t enough. The wrath fred like an erupting volcano, intriguing Tobris even more as he expined. The overwhelming serene aura enveloping me increased until my anger was evicted.

  “She’s a vixarian-- Mother's favored creation. You can think of them as the evolved or ascended form of a singi, but the evolutionary process was removed from the overarching cycle after our mother was ousted. The remaining vixarians across the many infinite worlds perished at once.” Tobris grinned—I knew he was. “That was a hunt...my siblings enjoyed... Oh, but my dear sister used the Akashic Record to forcibly splice the soul of the st remaining vixarian into a randomly chosen singi. How…ironic— No... perhaps it isn’t such a coincidence that encountering the chosen singi was key to your manifestation… I wonder how many lifetimes that took? The odds were low, but they’re never zero. All things are possible, all things are improbable, but impossibility? It doesn’t exist. It never has, and it never will.”

  The goddamn bastard wasn’t being truthful. I didn’t think he was lying about everything, but that st part had a pound of falsehoods.

  “To remedy my sister’s foolish decision, I developed a trap that would activate should another vixarian be born—a miracle in itself, really. Any singi who wishes to experience the awesome power of a vixarian will be faced with their darkest moments to see if they’re worthy of it. Consider it a prototype event for what I wish to implement on a rger scale when the time is right. I am, after all, a creator and destroyer. The infinite realities are mine to manipute as I see fit. However... It seems this thing harbors more grit than most. Why else would she be active so soon after Mother’s manifestation?”

  The same thing happened to me... Why did he divulge that information? His shadowy face cked expressions, but I knew he had a smug look. I felt it so deep in my bones that my anger fred. It evaporated the calming effect, and I screamed at him.

  “Your anger is mispced,” said Tobris. He snapped his fingers, and we were back on the ground. “You can y the bme on her.” He pointed to Verta, who was crying into the nun’s arms. Itarr was on her knees, punching the ground out of anger. I felt her bones shatter with each strike.

  Immediately, my anger was stolen. I was forced to remain stoic like an emotionless doll.

  I hated it.

  But then I didn’t because that feeling vanished.

  This god maniputed my emotions like they were toys and prevented me from moving. He didn’t restrain Itarr because there was no need.

  “You are mysterious.” Tobris approached. He ignored everyone but me—he still held Momo like a sack of meat. “I am not responsible for your missing memories, but I know what they contain.”

  “Then tell me!” I barked. I wanted to demand he let her go, but my words...weren’t being chosen by me. I couldn’t help but say what he wanted to hear!

  “Where’s the fun in that?” My heart stopped. “You once said you were fine without them because you’re afraid of who you used to be. Perhaps your instincts were correct. Perhaps they weren’t… Oh, you don’t know the truth, do you?" He smirked. "I do. I’m experiencing the life you led as if I’m watching a py.”

  “…”

  “Nothing to say?” Tobris looked at the night sky as it violently trembled. It seemed like a harsh warning. “I’ve overstayed my welcome,” he said. “I knew I shouldn’t have come, but I couldn’t help it.”

  “Tell me something… Is this a game? Have we…done this before?”

  “Where’s the fun in that?”

  “Answer me! Are we living in a cycle? How many—"

  “I will say this… The words you heard when you acquired Mother’s system were specifically spoken for a reason. They were not without merit. You’re now partial to the Primordial Goddess, Servi. You live as the universe. You will never die. The same applies to all who bear a ring—all who wield a sliver of Mother’s power. Follow this advice. Use this new opportunity to create new memories. Cease your efforts to solve mysteries that are meant to remain unanswered. You would do well to heed the words of a god.”

  “I won’t heed shit,” I replied, feeling a warm edge in my stomach. The force constricting me vanished. I summoned my scythe and silently used [Heart Clutch].

  Tobris shrugged off my attempt with an audible sigh.

  His breath cut me into a thousand chunks. I exploded in a fountain of gore, but I regenerated just as quick. “Let us not do this. Neither will win. I don’t have the time for this petty squabble. Do as I say, and you will enjoy your immortal life. Ignore it? I shall make you experience the terror you felt before.”

  “Just try—”

  Lightning crackled in the infinite skies. Tobris’s unrestrained form became visible… Before I knew it…I cwed my eyes out to prevent me from seeing it…

  I desired nothing more than to end my life. The feeling faded when Tobris obfuscated his power. The bastard ughed and said that was only a taste.

  “Your anger should be directed towards my sister. Her sin… It is responsible for everything. Punish her. Kill her. Enact your revenge on her immortal body. Do what you wish. My siblings care little for her anymore. Now, I must be going. We shall meet again if you remain insistent on pying detective. For your sake, my child, let us hope you choose to live a carefree adventure. Oh,” he said, tossing Momo to the ground. She smmed into the fountain, but...

  She wasn’t moving.

  She was like a stillborn baby.

  “Consider it a little task from me. Here’s a hint. What’s done is not done. It isn’t complete. Try again, but make it right, haha...”

  Tobris ascended into the skies. The abyssal infiniteness exploded with a soul-shattering bang.

  *****

  *****

  No! That’s not true! You can’t trust him!!!

  Verta couldn’t speak. Her elder brother had altered the game's rules to prevent her from divulging the truth. Why? Was it because this was the quickest she had met her mother?

  Tobris had never appeared in any of the previous attempts. He preferred to watch the chaos and let whatever happened happen because he believed it more amusing.

  He didn’t speak entirely of falsehoods.

  But he also didn’t utter complete truths.

  Verta had thrown the first stone. Her envy had started this cruel, cruel game. She had used the Akashic Record to etch [Lover’s Blossom] into the [Forbidden Skill System], but that happened long after the eternal game had started.

  The first round…wasn’t the first round. The game didn’t exist when her mother was thrown out of heaven. That was when she met a particur vixarian. This woman believed her every word and journeyed with Itarr to face off against her children. The two naturally fell in love and carved a retionship deeper than creator and creation.

  Verta was ashamed to have found much joy in watching her mother struggle. She ter hated herself because she told her brother about an idea stewing around her head. Tobris then used the Akashic Record to turn the Primordial Goddess into one of their many game pieces.

  Their mother would be sealed and stripped of her memories. Her instinct for freedom would inevitably lead to her summoning a host, who would then splice their souls together.

  The vixarian would be forever reincarnated into a random soul—regardless of their gender and race. This person would be destined to meet Itarr’s host. Yet the vixarian inside would only show if her host was a female singi, which wasn’t always the case—the added randomness only added to the curse’s horror since there wasn’t any guarantee. The vixarian had to be sacrificed for her host’s evolution and for the Primordial Goddess to manifest.

  That was the vixarian curse… How cruel it was to always be destined for death without ever holding the one she loved in her arms.

  Tobris never expected the Akashic Record to have a mind of its own. It hijacked its wielder’s wishes to implement a victory condition that made this unwinnable game into something pusible—the [Forbidden Skill System] -- an incomplete alternative Itarr had worked on—must be perfected before a path to the heavens would be made.

  It was only then that the game became a proper game.

  The settings constantly changed. The ndmasses and rules were altered after the divines took a vote. Different handicaps were given. Some were erased. Others were added mid-game after being granted permission.

  But for Itarr’s eldest daughter? Regret soon crawled within her heart as her siblings cheered on Itarr’s failed attempts over the eons. Her second coup failed. Her allies were sentenced to fates worse than death while she was transformed into a pying piece.

  [Lover’s Blossom] was the final assistance Verta could offer her mother, but the skill was useless in combat. It wouldn’t end the game. It would enable her mother’s and the vixarian’s hosts to deepen their love. The Goddess of Family and Love wasn’t all-powerful. This was the most she could do. Verta wanted to show her mother that she still loved her…

  Verta wanted the truth to come from her mouth. She didn’t want Tobris’s words to impart bias onto this partial falseness he had uttered. He refused to announce the game, and Verta didn’t know why he kept those details hidden. She never knew what went through his mind.

  But she knew the Akashic Record was displeased at his tampering. He’d surely be punished once he returned to the heavens. Verta watched as Tobris spoke final cryptic words to Servi before disappearing into the sky.

  “You…” Verta looked up from Sister Carrie’s arms and saw her mother. She wore a scowl like no one else. “This is your fault… You’re the reason why I’m like this…” The Primordial Goddess slowly approached. Her multicolored eyes had lost the sparkle they used to have. “Why…”

  “Mother, I—”

  “WHY?! WHY?! WHY WHY!!!!! Tell me!” Itarr’s voice caused the isnd to shake. A towering wave of bloody water smmed into the tower and covered everything in a thick crimson bnket. The isnd representing Momo’s soul flickered. A haze immediately made it cloudy and hard to see. From behind, Servi shouted Momo’s name and unsuccessfully shook her awake.

  Sister Carrie stood over Verta to protect her. Servi ran in front of Itarr and hugged her. The Primordial Goddess demanded to be let go, but Servi refused. “Why are you protecting her?!” Itarr angrily asked. She tried to pry her host’s arms away, but Servi didn’t falter.

  “We have more important things! It’s Momo! She’s not moving! Forget about them! Focus on her!”

  Itarr continued to spew hatred. She promised to kill Verta while cursing her with all the wrath infecting her heart.

  She didn’t care about Momo—not one bit. At least, not now. The goddess couldn’t think about anything other than killing that damned traitor with her own hands!

  Itarr’s eldest daughter witnessed what her jealousy had caused. A second of covetousness had resulted in endless agony.

  Sister Carrie grabbed Verta’s hand, and their souls returned to Carrie’s physical body as Itarr screamed loud enough to wake the dead. The interconnected soul felt like it had reached a breaking point. The nd almost seemed to crack.

  Servi could only hold onto her goddess.

  *****

  *****

  Itarr let me have it after Carrie and Verta left. She vented the stresses of knowing the truth and admonished me for letting the one responsible escape with her tail between her legs. I knew it best not to say anything. I wasn’t mad when Itarr smacked me. Nor did I grow upset when she pushed me away and said she never wanted to see me again.

  Why?

  Because I knew she didn’t mean it. Just like I didn’t intend my harsh words when I mistakenly directed my anger and insecurities upon Itarr after the first run-in with Golden Reliquary.

  She slowly acknowledged what she was doing during her verbal shing. She grabbed my arms and tightly hugged me.

  “I’m sorry!!!” she so passionately cried. “Don’t leave me, Servi!”

  I kept my hands around her back.

  “I love you,” I whispered. “I won’t leave you. I’ll never do that.”

  Killing Verta would’ve been a mistake. But it would be a lie to say I wasn’t angry.

  I was.

  I hated traitors.

  I hated jealous goddesses who organized a rebellion for a stupid reason even more.

  Verta didn’t deserve forgiveness. Sure, she seemed remorseful. Her tears were proof. She tried to go against Tobris’s order and nearly died from it.

  I wanted to hurt her almost more than I wanted answers... But killing her? What good would come of it if Itarr absorbed her daughter’s soul? The turncoat was more useful alive than dead, but I knew why Itarr’s first thought was to kill her.

  Momo... Something happened to her. We ran to her still body. Her eyes were open, but no one was home. She didn’t move. Yet her skin was still skin—she was warm to the touch, and I didn’t find any injuries.

  “Come on, Momo...” whined Itarr. “Please... Wake up...”

  Oddly...I wasn’t scared. I should’ve been kicking myself with anxiousness, but...maybe I was trying to remain calm above all else. Panicking wouldn’t help anything. Someone needed to be collected.

  “Tobris... He called her a vixarian,” I said. “Does that ring a bell?”

  “No... Nothing. I… don’t know? I can’t think straight. It's hard to even...” Itarr stopped herself. She tightly held Momo’s hand and closed her eyes. But nothing happened. She snatched my arm, focused, but nothing. “She was like this before-- after becoming this vixarian... Why isn’t it working? Servi...”

  “I don’t know.” Itarr attempted to do what she did before and connect Momo to me, but would that work? Her soul world was here. I saw the isnd, but it was obscured by thick haze.

  “Do you have anything to say?” I asked Nyxaris. “Itarr’s your mother since she created [Necromancy]. Any idea what we can do?”

  “…” The lesser lich remained quiet. They probably had no idea how to respond. This meta-knowledge was out of their scope, or so I thought.

  “The bell shall toll for all who arrive at their destined death. O’creator, thy enemies aren’t an exception. O’creator’s other half, thy enemies aren’t an exception. Nyxaris the Darkmagus shall follow thee into battle and toll the bell, foreshadowing the end everyone must face.”

  That’s not really what I asked, but sure. Okay.

  “Stay here with Momo.”

  “Okay. I’m trying, Servi. I’m really trying, but I can’t get through to her...” Itarr grabbed her wrist to stop it from shaking. I didn’t want to leave her alone...

  So, I wouldn’t. I had a phone. I didn’t have to leave.

  I called Fisher and Albert and told them what happened. They said Carrie ran out of the apartment before fleeing downstairs. Percival was distressed because he saw our unmoving bodies after rushing into the room. He tried to wake us, but nothing happened.

  “It took all we had to calm him,” Albert said. “He’s going to the duchess in the morning. The nun will likely be Canary’s most sought-after criminal.”

  “That won’t happen. I’ll talk to him.”

  “What’s your pn? Are you chasing after her?”

  “I want to, but... I don’t know. What’s Momo’s body doing?”

  “She’s moving,” replied Fisher. “But barely. A finger twitch here and there.” He moved to text and said her current state resembled how we were before we woke up in that rest house.

  Tobris sharing a name with the Divine Principality of Tobris cannot be a coincidence. We should head there if we want answers, but I do not think we’re ready for a fight.

  Albert's message was a statement and a half. I seriously had no idea what we should do. It was nice confirming Itarr’s retionship with the [Forbidden Skill System], so could we work with that? Verta probably knew something? We could maybe get an answer out of her. It felt like our long-term goal should be acquiring the remaining forbidden skills.

  Tobris’s words rattled around my mind.

  Did we…have to do anything? He told me to enjoy my new life. If I decided to do that, would it truly be such a bad thing?

  I didn’t have proof that we lived in a never-ending cycle.

  But I also didn’t have proof that we didn’t. It was all circumstantial.

  We needed answers. But my skin crawled at the thought of facing Tobris’s true appearance. I still couldn’t recall it entirely, but merely thinking about that moment made me want to cw my eyes out.

  Being immortal—part of the universe—it felt like it didn't mean shit...

  I… seriously didn’t know what to do.

  RuggyRuggy