Chapter Text
Drip- drop
sounds of the steady downpour of rain outside the Moretti siblings apartment window.
"Hornacis, Flegrea." the crazy murmurings inside Klein's head continue as he frantically writes in his diary. 'Welch, Naya please be alright!' image his dear friends plagued his mind 'We shouldn't have looked too deeply in that damned notebook, it's cursed!'
"EUGH-" he groans out in pain, feeling himself lose more and more control of his body. 'I don't want to die- I don't want to die yet! I still need to help Melissa and Benson!' he still wanted to live, he just graduated not too long ago—he hasn't fulfilled his dreams yet!
Klein couldn't do anything as his body moved like it had a mind of its own, his arm reaching for the stolen revolver from Welch's home. Klein grips the handle of the revolver and moves it close to his head.
'If there's any god out there that can help- Please, please save me!' as what's left of his sane mind — untainted by the Antigonous notebook's corruption cries out.
Tears fall down his dulled eyes, he says his last few words "Melissa, Benson. I'm so sorry-"
Intense pain course through Klein's head as he loses his consciousness. Slowly, the pain dissipates as Klein opens his eyes. An endless sea of gray fog surrounds him—a man covered by fog sits at a throne.
"P-Pardon me if this is rude to ask but, may I know where I am and perhaps who you are sir?" Klein asks the man with a shaky voice, feeling the difference in their status.
"You, are currently in my domain in the spirit world. You can adress me as—The Fool." Klein immediately bows towards the figure's direction in respect, though he wonders why that name feels so familliar. "T-Thank you for saving me Mr.Fool!" The Fool simply nods in response at his words.
"It wasn't much, I was merely interested in your fate. I have to admit you certainly have quite the unfortunate fate—or should i say interesting?" The Fool hums with great intrigue.
Klein's posture slumps, depressed at how The Fool described his situation 'Is it really that interesting that i almost committed suicide because of that notebook?' sweating at just the thought of the mysterious notebook. "How may I repay you for saving me Mr. Fool?"
The Fool tapped the armrest of his throne as he pondered in thought. "Become my blessed, though i have significantly reduced the corruption that notebook gave you. It isn't gauranteed that you will not be corrupted again and commit suicide once you return to the real world." Klein clenches his fist at the thought of being controlled by the notebook's power once again.
"By becoming your blessed. Can the book's corruption be gradually reduced until it's gone? If so, how can that be done?" The Fool nodded in confirmation, "Only by following me, and becoming a beyonder will you become strong enough for the book's influence to dissapear completely." Klein tilts his head in confusion at the unfamilliar concept of beyonders.
"Excuse me for my ignorance Mr.Fool, but what are beyonders?" The Fool lampoons of a simple way to explain it to Klein before replying "You may think of them as humans with supernatural powers and capabilities. They gain these powers by drinking a potion from one of the 22 pathways. Once you have a pathway selected, you can ascend through the ranks of those pathways—these are called sequences. It starts from sequence 9 the lowest, to sequence 0 the highest." Klein silently takes in the information before asking more questions.
"How can i get access to these potions Mr. Fool?"
"By joining the churches, secret organizations or family secrets." Klein's eye widen at the mention of the churches. "The churches?!"
"Yes, though surprising. The churches currently have the biggest number of beyonders at the moment, having strict control and monopoly of the formula for their main pathways and others they have hold of." The Fool added, Klein felt as if his head might simply explode with each new information being mentioned.
"Don't worry about how you can look for potions right now, from reading your fate — you will have an oppurtunity to become a beyonder soon as long as you play your cards right." though confused on what the oppurtunity could possibly be, Klein nods at The Fool's words.
"Should you feel that you are losing control of your body, chant my honorific name in hermes and i will bring you here." The Fool pauses for a while before continuing, "My honorific name is; “The Fool that doesn’t belong to this era; The Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog; The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.” Klein's eye widens as he recognizes The Fool's honorific name from one of the history books he's read before, that name once belonged to a God of a medium sized orthodox church in the 4th epoch that has slowly become a forgotten faith in the 5th epoch.
'i've been just addressing 'Him' as him! Please don't smite me Mr. Fool' Klein thought in panic.
"That will be all for today." Klein repeats The Fool's honorific name in his head a few times to make sure he remembers correctly before bowing towards the God. "As you wish Mr. Fool." his eyes shrouded in darkness before the familliar crimson glow of the moon in his room appear. Revolver still in his hand, he quickly hides it in his drawer—afraid he might suddenly lose control of his body once again and shoot himself for real.
'It's gonna be alright Klein... you can always recite Mr. Fool's honorific name!' he thought in consolation. His eyes then drift to his diary, the entry he had previously written in his possessed state read in hermes "Everyone will die, including me."
Tick!
Klein's head starts to throb in pain once more, memories of the past few days start getting fragmented as he feels the memories of yesterday completely dissapear from his mind—except for the last hour when he almost killed himself. He clutches his throbbing head and starts masagging it, the pain slowly starts fading away. 'Welch, Naya. I hope both of you weren't corrupted as well. . . that notebook wasn't normal, could the church get involved somehow if they find out? I'd probably get interrogated right? Would beyonders somehow get involved to find out the truth?' Klein puts together from the information he knows of currently.
'I should find out more about The Fool's church. . . though most information might have been lost due to people losing faith in 'Him', the Bibles and some common information should have been archived or collected by historians at least. The past churches may just be ruins now, though surely there must be at least a few believers left here and there scattered around the world.' Klein speculates, planning his course of action for the next few days.
'Actually now that i've become one of Mr. Fool's blessed, do i stop believing in the Goddess?' Klein pauses in thought before leaving it to his future self to handle.
Above the gray fog Zhou Mingrui—also known as The Fool lampoons about his current situation. 'it's been a while since i got a blessed.' he hummed at the thought, reminiscing about his other blessed. 'Gehrman should be at sea now, Sherlock has been preoccupied setting up his detective work. Merlin is still wandering around the world fulfilling wishes and Dwayne. . . He should be in Buckland now.' he recounts their current adventures fondly.
Zhou Mingrui looks around the empty sefirah castle and sigh, "It's too lonely in here..." he felt that even with his current anchors, not being able to go out the sefirah castle to experience the mundane life of a mortal made it harder to keep his humanity in tact — and keep the Celestial Worthy at bay. Then again, he can't really descent as his presence is needed to keep the barrier up, and lacking a proper way to descent without causing his blessed a headache. Literally, and figuratively as it takes a lot of spirituality to summon a historical void of him. Even if he splits a small part of his consciousness to the historical projection the cost of his historical void is still too taxing for his blessed's.
Maybe he could try bringing in some other people inside the sefirah castle, but to do what exactly? Exchanging information perhaps. What else... suddenly a brilliant idea sparks in his mind. 'Didn't a good old friend leave behind a diary? perhaps i could bring people in sephirah castle and in exchange for valuable information about history and beyonders, they give me Roselle's diary pages! That guy definitely wrote something embarassing there at least a few times.' This would give Zhou enough embarassing things to tease his friend about once he resurrects, a evil smile creeps into his face at the thought.
'I should help out my newest blessed.' Zhou Mingrui thought, having a feeling that he might need his help. He infuses the crimson star representing Klein with the protection of the gray fog.
Zhou Mingrui then moves his eyes to the other countless crimson stars below him. 'Now, which of them do I choose?' his hands hovering above two certain crimson stars.
"These two should do." he mutters to himself with a smile as he held them.
Knock!
Knock! Knock!
Poundings on the door stopped Klein from his writing. He sat up from his chair and walked towards the door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Mountbatten, Bitsch Mountbatten.” The voice paused for a moment before adding, “Police.” Klein grimaced at recognition of the voice, he was the policeman in charge of the street where his family's apartment was located.
“Okay, I’ll be right there!” Klein responded loudly.
Klein cautiously ran to his drawer and picked up the revolver and went to the stove where the flames had already been extinguished and put the revolver in it. 'I should probably hide it here instead just in case they search my room. . . It wouldn't look good if i had a revolver lying around considering my family can't even afford one.'
Outside the door stood four policemen in black-and-white checkered uniforms with peak caps. Bitsch Mountbatten, the one with a brown beard, coughed and said to Klein, “These three inspectors have something to ask you.” Klein having expected something similar happening before they arrived welcomed them in to not be suspicious.
“Please come in. How might I help you?”
The leader of the three inspectors was a middle-aged man with sharp eyes. He seemed to be able to read the mind of a person and make them fearful. His eyes were wrinkled, and the edge of his hat revealed light brown hair. He looked around the room and asked in a deep voice, “Do you know Welch McGovern?” Klein's heart start to beat uncontrollably at the mention of his friend.
"Yes, He's a classmate of mine and we're good friends. I met with him and Naya frequently these last few days to interpret and discuss a Fourth Epoch notebook that belonged to him. Inspectors, did something happen to him?" He replied as calmly as he could, pushing the memories of the past few days in the back of his mind.
Instead of answering, the middle-aged police inspector looked sideways at his gray-eyed colleague.
The inspector with the peak cap and ordinary looks replied mildly, “I’m sorry, Mr. Welch has passed away.” Klein held in the urge to vomit at the thought of his friend's dead body.
“What about Naya?”
“Ms. Naya passed away too,” the gray-eyed police inspector said quite calmly. “Both of them died in Mr. Welch’s house.”
"Did- Did they get killed?" Klein asked in a shaky voice, praying- hoping that they didn't get corrupted like he was. But deep inside — he already knew.
The gray-eyed inspector shook his head.
“No, the scene suggests that they committed suicide. Mr. Welch hit the wall with his head many times, covering the wall with blood. Ms. Naya drowned herself in a basin. Yes, the kind used to wash your face.”
“That’s impossible…” Klein’s hairs stood on their ends as he imagined the scene.
The gray-eyed inspector continued, “We believe so too, but the autopsy results and the situation at the scene exclude factors such as drugs and external forces. They—being Mr. Welch and Ms. Naya—showed no signs of struggling.” Klein hoped that his friend didn't feel pain during their last moments.
“When was the last time you saw Mr. Welch or Ms. Naya?”
“It should be June 26th, we were reading a new chapter in the notes. Then, I went home to prepare for my interview on June 30th. Uh, the interview was for the History Department of Tingen University.” Klein knew in his guts that he met with them on the 27th, but memories of that day besides the moment he called for help from Mr. Fool seemingly dissapeared. Like it was wiped on purpose by something else.
As soon as he finished, he saw the young police inspector walk towards his desk in the corner of his eye and pick up the notes which resembled more of a diary.
'I forgot to hide that!' he silently cursed himself.
“Hey!” Klein cried out.
The young inspector smiled back at him, but did not stop flipping through his notes, while the gray-eyed inspector explained, “This is a necessary procedure.”
Klein couldn’t stop it. He watched the young inspector flip through his notes, but the gray-eyed inspector did not ask any questions.
“What is this strange thing?” The young police inspector turned to the end of the notes and suddenly asked, “And what does this mean? ‘Everyone will die, including me’…”
Telling the truth, he answered painfully, “I have no idea. I really have no idea… When I woke up this morning, I felt I wasn’t quite right, as if I had forgotten something. It’s especially true for whatever happened recently. Especially, yesterday. I don’t even know why I had written such a sentence.”
“That is ridiculous! Do you think we are fools?”
'How about you get possessed by some cursed notebook! Experience what i had to go through. . .' Klein complained to himself like a child.
“I’m speaking the truth,” Klein responded looking into the eyes of Mountbatten and middle-aged police inspectors.
“Maybe it is,” the gray-eyed police inspector said slowly. 'He believes me!' Klein thought hopefully.
The gray-eyed inspector smiled at him and said, “An expert will come in two days, she should be able to help you to recall your lost memories.”
“Well, Mr. Klein, thank you for your cooperation. We advise that you’d better not leave Tingen for the coming days. If you have to, please notify Inspector Mountbatten, or you’ll become a fugitive,” the gray-eyed police inspector warned.
“That wouldn’t be an issue.” Klein reassured.
The inspectors exited the room one by one, and the young man at the end suddenly patted Klein on the shoulder.
“It’s really nice. Very lucky.” Klein looked at the guy confused.
The green-eyed police inspector with a poet’s temperament smiled and said, “Generally speaking, the norm is for all the involved parties to die in such an event. We are very glad and fortunate to see you still alive.”
After that, he exited the room and closed the door behind him in well-mannered manner. Leaving Klein alone with his thoughts. 'I guess you could say I'm lucky.'
As Klein stood in thought he remembered Melissa would be coming home soon, 'I should hide the revolver in my bed for now.'
Rhythmic footsteps approached. A key was inserted, the handle was turned, and the door opened. As Melissa steps into the room Klein greets his sister with a smile, "How was school? No one bothered you right?"
"It was alright, no one bothered me." Melissa paused before continuing "You shouldn't be worrying about me Klein. Your Interview is in two days, focus on that." Klein chuckles at his sister's concerns before reassuring her, "Don't worry, I've been preparing for it." Melissa hummed in response.
"That's great to hear, you bought the food i asked you this morning right?"
"Mhmm, of course I did. I even have more money left thanks to the prices of the bread going down." Klein says handing the change from his food shopping that morning.
"Wait here, I'll go prepate them for you." As Melissa left, food in hand to cook. Klein couldn't help but look at his sister's helplessly, being such an unreliable big brother made him feel like such a burden to her.
'Once I get that lecturer position, I'll make sure to spend my first paycheck on buying Melissa new clothes.' he promised to himself.
Knock!
Knock! Knock!
Poundings on the door roused Klein from his dreams.
He peered out of the window to see the first glimmer of dawn, he flipped over and sat up.
“Who is it?” he hasn't even realized it was morning already, 'Melissa would have scolded me if I woke up any later. . .'
“It’s me. Dunn Smith,” a man with a deep voice outside the door replied.
'Dunn Smith? Don’t know him. . .' Klein got off his bed and shook his head as he walked towards the door.
He opened the door to see the gray-eyed police inspector whom he had met the day before standing in front of him.
Alarmed, Klein asked, “Is there something wrong?”
The policeman replied with a stern look, “We found a carriage driver. He testified that you had gone to Mr. Welch’s place on the 27th—the day when Mr. Welch and Ms. Naya died. Furthermore, Mr. Welch was the one who paid for your transportation fees.”
“This is insufficient evidence. It does not directly prove that I am associated with the death of Welch and Naya. Honestly speaking, I’m also very curious about the whole incident. I want to know what exactly happened to my two poor friends. But… But… I really can’t remember. In fact I have almost completely forgotten what I had done on the 27th. You may find it hard to believe, but I fully relied on the diaries I had written to roughly make a guess that I had gone to Welch’s place on the 27th.”
“You sure have great mental fortitude,” Dunn Smith said while nodding. He showed not a trace of anger; nor was he smiling.
“You should be able to hear my sincerity,” Klein looked him straight in the eye and said. 'I'm telling the truth! albeit I'm keeping the fact that I almost killed myself due to the notebook's corruption. . . '
Dunn Smith did not give an immediate response. He swept his glance across the room before saying slowly, “Mr. Welch lost a revolver. I guess… I should be able to find it here. Right? Mr. Klein?”
“Behind the bed board.” Dunn Smith did not move forward. The corners of his mouth twitched as he asked, “Nothing to add on?”
Without hesitation, Klein replied, “There is!”
“Yesterday, I remember having almost no control of my body. During that time, I ended up writing the last entry on my diary and eventually picking up the revolver to my head. I was praying for the Goddess to save me and eventually I lost my consciousness. Since then, I have lost some memories, including what I saw and did at Welch’s place on the 27th. I’m not lying. I really can’t remember.” Klein admitted the truth, opting not to mention about the gray fog and lying about praying to the goddess specifically for help.
Dunn Smith listened quietly, then said, “This corresponds with what I had surmised. It also corresponds with the hidden logic of similar incidents in the past. Of course, I have no idea how you managed to survive.”
“I’m glad you believe in me. I don’t know how I survived either.” Klein heaved a small sigh of relief.
“But—” Dunn threw out a conjunction. “There is no use in me believing you. You are currently the prime suspect. You have to be confirmed by an ‘expert’ that you have indeed forgotten what you went through, or that you indeed have nothing to do with the deaths of Mr. Welch and Miss Naya.”
He coughed, his expression becoming serious.
“Mr. Klein, I seek your cooperation on coming with me to the police station for the investigation. This should take roughly two to three days if it is confirmed that there are no issues with you.”
“The expert is here?” Klein asked blankly in return.
'Didn’t they say it would take another two days?'
“She came earlier than expected.” Dunn turned sideways, signaling for Klein to leave.
“Allow me to leave a note,” Klein requested. Benson was still away and Melissa had gone to school. He could only leave a note to inform them that he was involved in an incident associated with Welch so that they would not worry about him.
Dunn nodded, not minding.
“Alright.” just as Klein grabbed a piece of paper to write on he thought of something, 'Should I ask Mr.Fool for help? Maybe have those memories sealed before i meet with this expert? Question is, when should i chant his honorific name. . . Maybe when we're inside the carriage.' Not wanting his meeting with The Fool being revealed he thought of ways to hide it.
Outside the apartment, there was a four-wheeled carriage. On the side of the carriage, there was the “two crossed swords and a crown” police emblem. Their surroundings were crowded and bustling with noise as usual.
“Go on, up.” Dunn signaled for Klein to go first. Klein stepped into the carriage first before Dunn followed.
As Klein sat across Dunn, he whispers as low as he could The Fool's honorific in hermes.
“The Fool that doesn’t belong to this era;
The Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog;
The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.”
Suddenly, the world around him starts to shake uncontrollably before everything started collapsing. '
What's going on!' Klein thought in alarm as he felt himself falling.
Ring!
A loud ringing noise fill's his hears as a blinding white light follow, Klein closes his eyes as the ringing noise slowly fade out. Everything suddenly became a blur as though the world spun around him when he instantly sat up.
Klein looked around, confused. He noticed the crimson moon outside the window and the room being covered in a crimson glow. As he raised his hand to hold his forehead. It was all moist and cold. Cold sweat. His back felt exactly the same.
"A dream. It was all a dream?" Klein said in confusion, eventually sighing in relief at the thought. "Everything's fine."
'That was a really weird dream though...' After calming down, Klein looked at his pocket watch. Two in the morning. He got out of bed quietly and headed to the washroom where he could wash his face.
He opened the door and walked along the dark corridor. Under the dim moonlight, he walked lightly towards the washroom.
Suddenly, he noticed a silhouette outside the window at the end of the corridor.
That silhouette turned around slowly.
Dunn Smith! Klein took a step back. For a moment he was unsure if he was awake or still in his dreams.
The silhouette took off his black top hat and bowed a little as he said with a smile, “Reintroducing myself, Nighthawk, Dunn Smith.”
'Nighthawk? what's that supposed to be... But I'm sure now! This guy must be a beyonder!' Klein deduced.
“You can control dreams? You just made me dream of that?”
“No, I only entered your dream and made the necessary guidance.” His voice was deep and soothing, “In dreams, even though much of your usually suppressed emotions and various dark thoughts in you are amplified—making everything seem chaotic, absurd, and crazy—they are all rooted in reality since reality exists. For veterans like me, everything is crystal clear. Compared to a conscious you, I believe the you in your dreams more.”
“So, Mr Smith, do you believe that I really lost my memory?” Klein organized his thoughts and asked in reply.
Dunn Smith did not answer him directly. Instead he looked at him keenly.
“You are actually not surprised by the course of events?”
“I’ve met people who wouldn’t believe in the power of the Beyonders, and they would rather believe that they haven’t really woken up.”
Klein acknowledged as he said, “Perhaps, I have always been praying, hoping that there was such power to help me.”
“An interesting train of thought… Perhaps you survived not only because you were lucky.” Dunn nodded expressionlessly. “I can now confirm that you really lost parts of your memories due to the incident, especially those related to it.”
“So can I go back now?” Klein heaved a long sigh of relief in his heart as he probed.
“No, you still have to come with me to see the expert,” he smiled politely and said.
“Why?” Klein blurted out, then added, “You don’t believe in the findings from my dream?”
“I still have confidence in things related to dreams.” Dunn calmly replied, “However, for important key matters, there’s nothing wrong with confirming them again, besides, our specialties lie in different areas.Perhaps she can help you recover some of your memories.”
Not waiting for Klein to reply, his voice turned deeper. “After all you’re connected to the whereabouts of that Antigonus family notebook.”
“What?” Klein froze.
At sefirah castle, Zhou Mingrui watched over Klein. 'This fellow truly has some great luck.' It was great that he was to join the Evernight church instead of ther other churches. "I should ask Amani to help him when she can."
Zhou Mingrui then felt someone praying to him, clicking on the prayer he sees Dwayne offering food to him. 'Oh, I almost forgot I asked him to offer some food.' he didn't need to eat anymore, but the act helped him maintain his humanity so he enjoyed doing so. The gourmet cooked dishes then appear in front of him, taking a historical projection of utensils out the historical void. Zhou Mingrui begins to eat as he watches Klein.
'This feels like I'm watching a movie while I eat just like before.' he reminisced.
With his evaluation done, Klein was then taken back to his apartment by Nighthawk Dunn Smith, where they had an important conversation.
“Would you like to join us as a civilian staff member?” Klein was silent for a while before deciding his answer, "I would like to join."