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Utopia was being raided by Zaratul and his allies’ historical projection. Klein first tried to escape to the Sefirah Castle but was blocked by William Augustus I’s prohibition. His next option was to run to the Fog of History. But even the familiar gray fog was no longer safe, as Zaratul had long been waiting for him. A vortex of transparent maggots with sinister tentacles extended out and seized him. The law of Beyonder characteristic convergence between angels was a powerful force that Klein could only escape by the skin of his teeth through careful preparation and the help of the Spirit Worm on the Sefirot.
He continued to flee. His destination was the metropolis before the First Epoch, where only a Scholar of Yore who had been a human before the current history could enter.
Dilapidated buildings and frozen people and vehicles soon entered his view. The sight that had once pained his heart now soothed his tensed nerves. Only here could he ever feel saf–
A wooden cross with traces of blood penetrated his chest from behind.
The physical pain of having your heart pierced paled when compared with the pain of losing your only haven.
Behind him stood a cold-looking man with sharp facial features. His faithful believer. His seemingly eternally loyal subordinate. His…puppet. Gehrman Sparrow.
Gehrman locked eyes with him, and said. “Adam has given me humanity.”
As Klein fell out of the Fog of History, Gehrman’s existence, too, fell apart.
A puppet without a puppet master was a paradoxical existence that should never exist. And the puppet Gehrman would gradually deteriorate until its body was but withered maggots.
…
“Cut!” Director Adam shouted. “Good work! Lunch break, everyone.”
Gehrman Sparrow heaved a sigh of relief and pushed himself up. He looked down to the two-meter cliff below, where a young man was lying with a (fake) cross stabbed through his chest. The young-looking man’s eyes were tightly shut, his tongue hung out on one side, the tip of his index finger was dyed red and the word “Gehrma” was written in (also fake) blood on the white mattress. Looked like he died before he could fully leave behind his last words. Hmm, he’s probably deserved it. So much for overworking your puppet without even paying them minimum wage. Gehrman prayed wholeheartedly…that the man would get a good talking from the prop people for ruining props, again.
“Mr. Fool,” Gehrman called, “Lunch break.”
“Dead men don’t eat, my boy,” the corpse answered.
“I’m going to Utopia.”
Utopia was the family restaurant near where they were filming. The food there was a godsend, to the point that when Director Adam visited it, he had an epiphany and decided to call the ritual town they were filming the same name. And all the tasty food that appeared in the show was ordered from there as well.
The corpse jerked its head up. Then, it stood up, dusted its vest, removed the (fake) cross, and practically raced to the door.
Today’s soup of the day was mutton and peas, coincidentally Gehrman’s and Klein’s favorites.
The young-looking man, Klein Moretti, was the lead actor of the show they were filming. Although to be fair, Gehrman and Klein were both lead actors; since on the screen, their characters were two identities of the same person.
The show–Lord of the Mysteries–followed the protagonist Zhou Mingrui who transmigrated to a steampunk-hybrid-fantasy world with magical potions and a crimson moon. It started out like a generic third-rate isekai show. But then the plot started to unfold and Zhou Mingrui, now donning the identity of Klein Moretti, had to navigate his journey to home while also folding evil cultists’ plans one after another. It was a show about humanity, perseverance in the face of hardship, and the madness that came with godly powers. The show was in its final stage now, and had gotten a huge viewership over time. In fact, the number of viewers seemed to increase with each season.
Zhou Mingrui/Klein Moretti was an intelligent, kind-hearted man with a heart of gold and a will of steel.
Needless to say, as the lead actor, Klein had the largest fanbase, and was respectfully called Mr. Fool–his alias in the show. This was all fun and game, if you ignored the fact that Mr. Fool was actually a thirty-plus-year-old who had likely traded his soul with the devil for eternal youth. And his mental age was probably seventy-something, judging by how eager he was to die and hurt himself on a regular basis. His favorite phrase to say whenever someone asked how his day was going was “still alive,” followed by “unfortunately.”
Gehrman, on the other hand, was a newbie in this whole acting business and had yet so much to learn.
“Gehrman, you did great in that scene,” Klein commented, as they were heading to Utopia. “I couldn’t hear you approaching me at all. Really caught me off guard. And the way you say the line and the way you fall, too… Good job!” He patted Gehrman on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.
Gehrman lowered his head. In an angle where Klein couldn’t see, he smiled. “Thank you,” he said to Klein.
A quick flash of light splatted their faces when they stepped into the restaurant.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Fool and Mr. World~” Said a beautiful lady with blonde hair and emerald-green eyes. Her presence lit up the entire restaurant.
“Good afternoon, Miss Justice,” Klein replied. Gehrman did the same.
“I knew you guys would come. So I came a bit early and ordered for everyone. Food should be coming out soon.” Justice Audrey Hall said while poking her phone. A heart here, and a rainbow there. Maybe a pink background, too. Then onto Twitter… anddd post! Now onto Tumblr…
Gehrman’s phone had a notification: Fool/World number 1 stan just posted.
The food came out soon after they sat down. And while Klein was busy devouring his fried rice dish, Gehrman took out his phone, opened Tumblr, and double-clicked on the pinkish picture of him and Klein walking into Utopia.
A skidding sound came from outside. The door opened, and the light inside suddenly dimmed by half. The perpetrator was the tall figure who just walked in and blocked half of the natural light of the restaurant.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Fool, Mr. World, Miss Justice!” the tall figure said.
“Derrick!” Klein waved at him. “How was your final?” And Derrick’s smile dimmed just as Utopia’s natural light.
“I, uh, I passed. I think?”
“You think?” Klein asked knowingly.
Derrick’s smile was gone. “The teacher looked at my paper, then he turned around and said ‘Remember to read the questions carefully.’” His face was now buried in his hands.
They all wordlessly gave him a pat on his back, and Gehrman pushed a grilled mushroom skewer in front of him.
Physics. The bane of their existence…
“Anyways, how’s everyone’s day going?” Derrick asked after (fake) sobbing for ten seconds.
“Almost died,” Klein said. “But I lived, unfortunately.”
“Was this close to killing him,” Gehrman pinched his index finger and thumb together, “but he lived, unfortunately.”
And Audrey showed Derrick the pinkish photo she took.
“Oh.” Derrick said, nodding.
“What the hell…” Klein exclaimed upon seeing the picture. “Wrong! You guys are all wrong! Listen, MonKlein… is canon.”
“Whatever you say, Mr. Fool,” said Audrey.
“As long as you’re happy, Mr. Fool,” said Gehrman.
“No, you don’t understand.” Klein took out his script, “This–” and pointed to a heavily annotated page, “-is the exact moment Amon falls in love with Klein. They are in love and I can prove it.” He said as if he was not the one playing Klein.
Gehrman remembered Fors had said the same thing about Leonard and Klein’s relationship.
Their lunch was then filled with Klein going into heavy details about how MonKlein was a fated enemies-to-lovers and coded accordingly.
But Klein didn’t know: Gehrman’s and Audrey’s phones were recording the whole time.
That night, they sent those records to Fors.
And that night, the Lord of the Mysteries fandom on Archiveofourown had a new MonKlein fan fiction by an anonymous author. The fic was a modern/actor AU.