Chapter Text
The monthly meetings continued. After the hotpot day, they decided that each participant would always bring some food or drink of their choice to share with the group, so as not to overburden one member. Like this, there also wouldn't be a problem even if someone needed to be absent at the last minute.
Those who most often had appointments that couldn't be postponed were Leonard and Audrey, as they were high members of the church and nobility. Occasionally, Alger and Cattleya had to withdraw as well, due to the unforeseen circumstances at their sea voyages.
Every now and then, Fors also needed to finish a manuscript. But unless she had already begged her editor for an extended deadline and had less than two days to finish it all, she usually preferred to participate, allegedly to "serve as inspiration".
Actually, absences were expected from the beginning, but Klein still found it regrettable whenever someone couldn't attend. At the end of the day, it wasn't the same without all of them together.
‘Well, nothing that can be done about it. Every member has their own responsibilities, after all. If anything, it’s me who’s neglecting his duties too much.’ Klein lampooned as he took the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken out of the air fryer and arranged them on a plate.
Of course, as a god and a pillar, he had his own responsibilities too, such as answering prayers and meeting with the other gods to discuss the course of the world, as well as deal with any hidden dangers and lingering problems left by the outer gods after the apocalypse.
But being trapped above the gray fog for a while, Klein had plenty of free time, to the point of getting bored. When that happened, he preferred to leave his obligations to some avatars and focus on increasing his humanity.
In the meetings apart from the Tarot Gatherings, they had already played some video games like Mario Kart and King of Fighters to familiarize the other members with electronic games. But truthfully, Klein and Franca still missed more elaborate ones like Assassin’s Creed and Dark Souls.
That’s why they arranged to meet again specifically to play those kind of games that weren’t suitable for the monthly parties. After all, if they started playing alone, there would be nothing left for the others to do apart from watching the two of them having fun, and that could be boring.
Klein finished sticking toothpicks into some pieces of chicken, grabbed more ice for the sodas, and returned to the room where Franca was. When she saw Klein approaching with the snacks, she stopped climbing the synchronization tower to grab a piece.
“Yumm. Zhou-ge, your cooking is always so incredible I can’t believe I have the chance to taste it so often.” She says, letting out a satisfied sound. “Praise the Fool!” Franca says emotionally, bringing her right hand to her chest and bowing.
“You’re welcome.” Klein chuckled at her antics.
He picked up the controller to finish synchronizing the map and continue the mission. Right now, they had just finished the first Assassin’s Creed and, since it was still early, decided to start the second game of the franchise.
However, it seems they became too engrossed with those side quests, since Klein was receiving a prayer from the Calamity of Destruction asking him to “free his companion.”
Klein looked at the clock to check the time, and indeed they had spent a good few hours in front of a screen.
“Watch out, the guard! The guard!” Franca suddenly shouted.
She snatched the controller from him to escape the guards before they were identified, but it was a second too late and now it was run or kill.
Seeing Franca starting to run for her life but not managing to lead the guards away, it didn't really seem like they were going to finish anytime soon…
So he decided to just summon the other god above the fog while they took care of this.
Feeling the red engulfing his vision, Lumian was first confused at not seeing the familiar bronze table, but upon noticing the immense LED TV in front of him, he quickly realized what was happening. With a mischievous smile, he walked over to the two figures sitting on the plush carpet.
Franca had given up on running and was facing the guards head-on when her vision was blocked.
“NOOO WHAT ARE YOU DOING??”
After she freed herself with difficulty from the hands covering her eyes, her character had already died and there was a "Desynchronized" message appearing on the screen.
She let out a resigned sigh then finally looked back at the red-haired man who had cut down her fun.
“What are you doing here?”
"My wife was kidnapped by an evil god, obviously I'm here to save her."
"Said evil god is being bullied to bring food nonstop for this gluttony princess." Klein said as he wiped a fake tear while holding a toothpick with crispy chicken.
“Hey, you’re the one who said there’s no such thing as a proper game session without food!” Franca defended herself.
“What’s that?” Lumian asked, not giving Franca any mind.
“Popcorn Chicken. Want some?” Klein said with a smile, as if his complaint just a second ago never existed.
Lumian accepted the offer, picking up the toothpick held out to him.
“Isn’t it tasty? I bet Zhou-ge cooks better than you.” Franca tried to tease him a bit.
“Mm. What did you put in it?” Her provocation was utterly ignored.
“Our homeland’s secret spice.”
“See? That’s why you think his cooking is better, your taste buds are just used to it. It’s called emotional connection.” Lumian finally looked at Franca just to provoke her back.
“What, are you saying my cooking is only good if you’re used to it?” Klein raised an eyebrow.
“Nah, I’m just saying her palate is biased.”
“Humph. Whatever.” Franca decided to let it go. No way she had chance against a Provoker. “Anyway, why did you come all the way here?”
“Franca, you’ve been coming here almost every day for the past two weeks.”
“So you came to pick me up? I’m not a child, you know?”
“Yeah, hard to tell when you passed five hours straight here eating and playing games.”
‘Okay, now I feel personally offended.’ Klein lampooned internally, but didn’t stop their banter as he drank his homemade soda.
“Let’s go home, you’re bothering Mr. Fool.”
“Lumian, it’s okay, I don’t really mind. If anything, it’s good to have Xiao Fu over so often.”
“You see? Zhou-ge is also a Great Old One and is so chill about it. You should learn with him.” She said with a triumphant air seeing she had a powerful backer.
Lumian stared back and forth at both of them with a strange expression. “What’s with these forms of address? Were you two always this close?”
Klein suddenly realized Lumian had a point. Usually, he was a perfect Loenese gentleman and always kept his distance from people. Since they started the friend meetings above the gray fog, though, he seemed to immerse himself more in Zhou Mingrui’s modern citizen way of being, thus becoming more at ease with everyone.
He was still reserved, of course, it was a part of his personality. But he started to open up a bit further to those around him. Franca, as a fellow countryman, also played a huge part in that.
“It’s because formality is forbidden here. You can also call me Klein or Zhou, if you’d like.” He explained with a smile.
“I see. This ‘ge’ means brother, right? I remember Franca calling Zhou Mingrui that in your dream too.”
“That’s right. In our country, calling people a little older than you ‘ge’ or ‘jie’ is a sign of affection and closeness, even if you’re not related. ‘Xiao’ is also a way to call younger people.” Franca showed a sly smile. “So you should be Xiao Lu!” She exclaimed, pointing at Lumian.
“Hm. It was common in companies for veteran employees to maintain a certain level of informality with newer employees.” Klein added.
“Is that so… But thinking about it, you really do feel like an older brother.” Lumian smiled as he took another piece of chicken.
“Huh?”
“Well, you’re always looking out for everyone and helping us as much as you can. In that sense, you remind me a little of Aurore.” Lumian had a fond look, remembering his sister.
Klein didn’t say anything, his thoughts wandering.
“Well, anyways, we’d better get going. There’s a lot of work to do and we’ve already spent too much time here.” Lumian broke the silence after finishing his chicken.
“Aw, already? Can’t we play a little more?” Seeing a pointed stare her way, she quickly added “It’s just a little bit, I promise! We’re about to get to the best part!”
“There’s still plenty of chicken here. Why don’t you stay until we finish?” Before Lumian could argue, Klein intervened to help his friend.
The God of Calamity sighed. “Fine. Just a bit more.”
“Yay!” Franca took the controller back and resumed the game from the save point.
Soon, the three of them were watching the execution of the Auditore family. Lumian couldn’t help but empathize a bit with this Ezio guy.
When they went to where Ezio’s mother and sister were hiding, Franca asked if he wanted to give it a try.
“You just don’t want to go through the tutorial part, do you?” Klein teased.
“Shh!”
She gave Lumian a brief demonstration on how to use the buttons and each required skill. It might seem simple, but for someone who had never used a PlayStation controller before, it might be quite challenging.
Or so she thought.
“Why are you so good??”
“Because I’m amazing.” He had that arrogant smile plastered on his face again.
“Tsk.” She took the controller back as soon as he finished the little mission and then went to play closer to the TV.
The two gods stayed behind the low table, drinking and savoring the rest of the food as they watched her play for a while.
“Thank you.” Lumian suddenly said, his voice soft so that Franca, who was engrossed in the game, wouldn’t hear.
“What for?”
“Truthfully, since Franca started coming here, she’s been more cheerful. Not that she wasn’t before, but it seems more evident now.”
They watched as she was having fun with the little Easter egg with the classic Mario quote.
“Hmm. I guess it’s the same for me though. Having someone from the same time, same place to share things with… Is pretty good, really.”
“Is that why you all started meeting to play?”
“I didn’t plan this, I swear.” Klein let out a little laugh. “It’s just that people got quite worried when I said I was having trouble with my humanity. But I must admit that the results were better than I expected.” He looked to the side and saw the fellow god’s face turn serious “You can participate too if you want.”
“Are you sure?” Lumian blinked. “Isn’t it something exclusive to the Tarot Club?”
“Even if it was, you were also part of the Club once. But you could say it’s more of an informal meeting, and attendance isn’t mandatory. You can come just when you feel like it.”
"…I understand. Then I'll try to accompany Franca next time."
"You'll be very welcome." Klein gave a warm smile.
"Um, Zhou-ge? Can I ask you something?" Franca interrupted, a little hesitant. She finally decided it was a good time to stop the game and caught the end of their conversation.
"What is it?"
"Well… Can Aurore come too? She was also Chinese, just like us. When I talked about our meetings, she got quite excited."
Since Klein had never mentioned inviting anyone from outside, Franca had never invited her friend either. But lately it seemed Klein's condition was improving, since in addition to the living room and kitchen, he had already extended the modifications of Sephirah Castle to the backyard, where he materialized a dodgeball court, as well as adding another room with a ping pong table. So maybe now he could bring more people at once, right?
"That's right… okay, no problem. Aurore will also be welcome. If you want, you can invite Jenna too.”
“Really!? Zhou-ge, you’re the best!” She couldn’t contain herself and jumped over to hug Klein.
“Yes, yes, no need to thank me.” He hugged her back, amused.
“Okay, we should get going for real now. You sure you don’t need help with the cleaning?” Lumian asked Klein, after seeing the empty plates and glasses.
“I told you, there’s no need. In fact, it’s you guys who seem quite busy. Go, don’t linger here anymore” He dismissed them. This time, Franca didn't insist on staying either.
After the two left, Klein turned off the TV and the game console, then went to clean the dirty dishes, lost in thought.
‘A brother, huh?’
After he finished cleaning, Klein opened one of the doors in the hallway next to the kitchen, which led him to the original Sephirah Castle. He walked over to sit at his old bronze table and touched a pulsating red star.
A recording started playing instantly. There, a grown-up Melissa had prayed to the Fool and was excitedly recounting how her week had been and the new inventions she was developing.
He had already heard news from his family through Leonard and Audrey, who had become close friends with the Morettis. Leonard warned Klein that Melissa had already figured out that he was alive and his identity as The Fool, but said he didn’t go into detail regarding his past as Zhou Mingrui. After all, there were certain things that only the person in question should decide to share.
Klein really wanted to just go home and tell his siblings the whole truth at once. But he knew that doing this would likely push them further apart rather than bring them closer.
…Frankly, he was just scared. How would Benson and Melissa react if they found out he wasn't really the brother they knew and loved? Even though he considers himself Klein Moretti, deep down, ever since he was thrown into this mad world, he had been a combination of Klein Moretti and Zhou Mingrui. Not only that, but the personas of The Fool, Sherlock Moriarty, Gehrman Sparrow, Dwayne Dantès and Merlin Hermes are also him. They all have a part of Klein, and Klein also carries a part of all of them.
Furthermore, his personality has inevitably undergone a change from his divinity. Even though recent encounters with his friends have helped strengthen his human side, it's undeniable that he has also been influenced to some degree by the Celestial Worthy.
“…I wish you were here.”
Hearing this made Klein jolt and resume his attention to the image of Melissa. Her eyes were teary now, the only remnant of her earlier liveliness being a sorrowful smile.
“Klein, can you hear me? I won’t ask why you didn’t come back to us. I also won’t ask you to stay. I know you're a god now and have many things to worry about.”
“…I just wish to see you again. I can’t help but wanting to talk to you again.”
Ah.
He really is a Fool.
He changed so much these past years, but each persona loves his siblings as much as Klein originally did. Even now, after so many years, after being weighted by divinity, he still couldn't help but want to talk to them once more.
They didn’t need answers right now. He didn’t need to think how to explain himself to see his siblings again.
They just needed him there.
Klein also wanted them here.
Yes, the whole truth might be too much all at once. But they can take it slow. He wanted them to one day know all about him, even if it took time. And even if his family doesn't accept him, he will still care for and protect them.
Thinking this, Klein decided to touch the red star and send a short answer. He really missed them and would do his best to improve his condition and come home soon.
Some talks were inevitable. But now was not the time to worry about disclosing everything.
He wanted to come home soon.