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It took a few days for the exploration group to return to the City of Silver, and luckily they did not lose anyone along the way. Derrick was excited to return, Colin had told him that once they're back, he'll call a meeting with all the elders and they can discuss Mr Fool.
When they arrived, they were quickly cleared in through isolation, but the meeting had to be delayed because one of the other Elder's was returning with a hunting party later that day. It was finally time for the meeting, and the nerves had finally caught up with Derrick.
“Good everyone's here, now we can begin.” With that said, Colin set up a special barrier to keep everything being said a secret. “Some of you already know of him, but allow me to introduce Derrick Berg, of the Sun Pathway. Derrick has been worshipping a different God than the Lord for a while now, one that intends to help we People of the Dark. It's been 2583 years since a normal response has been received, and Derrick has been receiving them. I'll let him tell you the details.” With that, he gave Derrick the floor.
Before the meeting started Derrick prayed to Mr. Fool, not asking for anything but simply to calm his own nerves. “Uh, H-hello Elders. I-uh…” Derrick's mind went blank, seeing the expectant faces looking at him. He didn't know what to say.
Before he could start panicking, grey fog lightly covered his eyes, and he heard Mr. Fool say ‘Keep calm, simply tell them the truth from the beginning’. Derrick took a deep breath, looked down and did as Mr. Fool said.
“A long time ago, my father brought home a glass sphere from one of his exploration trips. When my parents fell ill I started praying before it, hoping the Lord would hear my prayers through it and save my parents. After their death, I prayed before it again, asking for our people to be freed from this dark place, to be freed from our curse. That time the sphere shattered. I thought it was a sign that we have truly been forsaken, but then…” Looking up, Derrick locked eyes with everyone, “My vision was filled with red, and afterwards I saw a magnificent room shrouded in grey fog, with a long table, and someone sitting at the end of it, a God. He introduced himself as a history loving Fool, one who will trade for the information of our lands. He said he hosts a gathering of people once a week, and allowed me to join. Through Him I received the Sun Pathway, and through the people there, people from outside the forsaken lands, I received the mushrooms we eat now. It was Mr. Fool who help me get rid of the Parasite, Mr. Fool who let me remember the last cycles when we got trapped in that temple, Mr. Fool who gave us the Lord's Crucifix, and Mr. Fool who told me of the secret entrance to the Giant King's Court.”
Collins was shocked by this, he thought that it was due to Amon that Derrick learned of Mr Fool, but to hear now that the God heard Derrick's prayers and decided to answer? Prayers meant for their Lord? It just reinforces the information about The Fool and The Creator. “When you prayed, did you pray to anyone or to our Lord?”
Derrick looked at Colin, “Before Mr Fool, I've always only prayed to our Lord, The Omnipotent and Omnipresent God that created everything.”
“Why would The Fool answer prayers to our Lord? Why would he even be able to hear them? Was it because of the sphere?”
“That grey fog, you visit there every week? Is it a Divine Kingdom?”
Derrick looked to the Elders asking questions, they were two he wasn't so familiar with. “Yes, the Grey fog is Mr. Fool's Divine Kingdom, and I visit it every week. If my timing is correct, the next gathering will be held tomorrow.”
Colin decided to interrupt, “The reason we stayed longer in Afternoon Town was because the timing overlapped with a meeting, and I did not want to take risks on the way back. Go on, Derrick, tell them what was revealed at the last one.”
Nodding to the Chief, Derrick took another steadying breath. This next part is very important as it could determine how the Elders viewed Mr. Fool. “When I first joined the meetings, there were only three of us, but in the past year it has grown. In the last meeting, we had 4 new members. Two of them… they resembled the Lord's sons, The Angel of Imagination and The Angel of Time. But they didn't just resemble the Angels, they are the Angels, they are our Lord's sons…and they called Mr. Fool Mother.”
“What?”
“I don't remember there being any records of our Lord having a partner?”
“Could it be an illusion? Some great scene to get us to trust this ‘God’?”
Derrick did like hearing that last part, not with how much Mr. Fool has done
for them! “Let there be Light!” Suddenly everyone became quiet as the room was filled with Derrick's light. After a few seconds it faded, “Mr. Fool has done a lot to help us, to help me, and I will not stand here and let you talk like He's some malevolent spirit!”
The Elders were shocked by Derrick's outburst, even those that knew him. “In the meeting Mr. Fool described how He and our Lord are the Pillars of the world, about them being Husband and Wife. I asked why we didn't have any records of Him and the Angels explained that Mr. Fool had been asleep for a long time. That our Lord had instructed the Angel of Fate to create murals so that His sons would know what Mr. Fool looked like. They said the murals are in places called the Chaos Sea and Corpse Cathedral, places where normal humans can't get them…”
The more he talked, the more emotional he became, to the point where he almost started crying. Can't they see that Mr. Fool only wants to help us! Has been helping us!
“Shame on you old folks for making the Little Sun cry.”
All the elders all reacted quickly to the strange voice, grabbing their weapons. There leaning against a wall was a young man many of them are familiar with. He looked exactly like the dark mage from over 50 years ago.
Colin stood in front of the rest, “Amon.”
“That's my name! Oh don't worry like that, Mother would be quite upset with me if something were to happen to you lot. Especially if that something is me. I'd prefer not to get hit again, and getting one of my parasites purified kinda stings you know?”
“What are you doing here?” Colin did not want to take any chances, Angel or not, he will protect the city.
“What do you mean? I've been here the whole time! You see, after the meeting I decided to check on Little Sun here, my zealous brother can't enter the Forsaken Land at the moment and someone had to make sure the kid's okay. Add in the little Shepard there who heard Father's Oracle~” A few of the Elders glanced at Lovia, wondering what that's about.
“You see, after Mother woke up, He started the process of resurrecting Father, and Father gave an Oracle last Monday for everyone on the Shepherd pathway to find and help Mother's followers! Since then Mother has been busy punishing the Traitorous Angels who betrayed my Father in the first place. It's been quite fun, Mother is very creative!”
The more Amon spoke, the more uncomfortable they began to feel, the only calm one being Derrick, but he himself was still a bit nervous.
“There's a very easy way to see that Mother can be trusted! Most of you can't reach sequence 3 of the Giant Pathway, not because you don't have the potion recipe or ingredients, but because the Ritual needs a God's blessing! Mother is quite generous with His blessings, Little Sun can attest to that, so why not just do the ritual? You get a Blessing, become a Saint, and get to see Mother has good intentions!”
“From what Derrick has told me, Mr. Fool values equivalent exchange. What would He get out of this?” Colin wants to believe, but going so far as to ask for blessings like this doesn't feel right, especially when they weren't worshippers.
“More followers? Followers and worshippers are very important for a God you know! What's wrong with worshipping both of my Parents? Tell you what, let me get everything that you've previously prepared for the ritual and you can do it here in front of everyone! Problem solved!”
Colin did not want to do the ritual yet, even though he's been preparing for it for years, but looking at the smirking Angel, he didn't think he'd have a choice.
Derrick was nervous, he was scared that this would make the people trust Mr. Fool even less. Soon grey fog filled his vision again.
“Uhm, Mr. Amon?”
Amon looks up at the kid, contemplating stealing someone's height so he'd be able to more easily look these people in the eye. “Yes?”
“Mr. Fool asked me to tell you ‘Sandal‘, He said you would know what it means?”
Hearing the word ‘sandal’, the smile instantly left his face, even his monocle started slipping slightly. If Colin had to describe the scene, he'd say that the Angel was even looking a bit scared. What was a ‘sandal’? For it to make even a King of Angels feel fear…
Amon looked up to the sky, almost as if seeing something they can't through the roof. “Mom! Please don't be like that! I'm only trying to get them to listen and worship You alongside Father! It's only fair for them to worship You since You're planning on leading them out of these lands soon! I mean Moon City's people were so much more accepting of worshipping you and you haven't done anything for them before that! Please don't bring out the sandal again!”
None of the elders, not even Colin with all his years of experience, ever thought that it was possible for an Angel to whine like a little child.
Derrick on the other had latched onto a different piece of knowledge. “Moon City Mr. Amon?”
“Huh?” Amon looked over to Derrick again. “Yeah, it's the only other human city still left. It's to the very far East from here, past the Chaos Sea’s entrance. A tricky little Demonic Wolf I've been playing hide and seek with took a bit of interest in them, so I did too. Decided to tell them about Mother and converted them into followers along the way.”
Another city also managed to survive? Before any of them could dwell on that thought, several Amons walked through the door, through the barrier. One had potion ingredients, one had ritual ingredients, and three were each carrying two beast corpse trophies.
“How did you get all these things?!” This unsettled Colin, he knew where all these things were, what protections they were under.
“Don't worry, I didn't harm anyone! Besides I can steal your thoughts, powers, destiny and life-time, getting all this stuff was easy! I-”
Just then, Amon stopped talking and his eyes went dull. The avatars also stopped moving. The Elders looked to one another and then to Derrick. “I think Mr. Fool is angry with Him and pulled Him up above the grey fog?” That was Derrick's best guess.
Colin looked around and sighed. The Elders were clearly unsettled, Derrick was standing there fidgeting and clearly uncomfortable, luckily having calmed down from his earlier outburst, but there's still a luster beneath his skin. He looked at the lifeless avatars holding everything needed for the advancement ritual.
“Giving me some space.” Suddenly speaking, he drew everyone's attention. “I'm going through with this ritual.”
“Chief?” Derrick looked at Colin, not understanding.
“Amon made a good point. Without proper proof like this, it would be hard to convince anyone, even with things like your pathway and the mushrooms as evidence. Besides, I'm not getting any younger, and I have been preparing for this ritual a long time. I want to believe, want to hope. I just hope your Mr. Fool will forgive me for challenging His power and authority like this.”
~~
In the meantime above the grey fog Klein was holding onto Amon’s ear. “What do you think you are doing?! I'm only still a demigod, I can't give true blessings!”
“Ow! OW! OOWW!!” Amon reached up to hold His Mother's hand, hoping to lessen the strain on His ear. “MOOMMM! But you do give true blessing! Constantly! Those paper Angels filled with the Castle's power and your own are better than a lot of blessings I've seen!”
With a sigh, Klein let go of Amon's ear. As soon as He was free, He took a few steps back and gently rubbed the side of His face. Looking at His Mother through his lashes he added, “It will work, I know it will.”
Klein looks back down to Little Sun’s star, seeing Colin start to prepare the ritual. He made a paper appear on the table, doing several divinations about the situation. Much to his dismay, it shows that it's possible.
He decided to keep Amon above the fog for now, so he doesn't interfere with the ritual that's about to happen. He's making preparations to give the strongest blessings he's capable of, using objects like the stave, Azik’s whistle, and blasphemy card.
~~
After preparing the ritual, Colin turned to Derrick, “What's Mr. Fool's full honorific name, His symbol and what essences and oils does He prefer?”
“Mr. Fool lets us use whatever oils we're comfortable with, I think it has to do with Him being the God of Change. As for His Symbol, it's a combination of secrecy and change, a pupil-less eye with contoured lines like this,” Derrick drew the emblem on a spare sheet of paper. Colin was surprised to hear that the God didn't prefer any specific scents or oils.
“Understoon, first line?”
Derrick looked Colin in the eyes, I bit of defiance showing in his eyes, “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.” Derrick has decided that whenever someone asks him about his chosen God, he would say The Fool's name in full, he would not split it like the Chief asked him to.
Colin saw the look in Derrick's eyes, understood the defiance in his action just now. He nodded to Derrick showing he understood. Before starting the ritual, he created a new barrier, one meant to protect Derrick and the Elders should this ritual fail and he mutate into a monster.
Checking everything one last time he started the ritual. Using a dagger he carved the symbol Derrick showed him into the candles and put them into position. He took out from his belt three bottles, the oils he relied on most. He used his spirituality to light up the candles one by one. “The Fool that doesn't belong to this era, you who are the Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog, you who are the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck. I pray that you lend me your ear, I pray that you cast your cage upon me, I pray that you will grant me your blessing so that I may become a Silver Knight.” He takes the three bottles, slowly dripping a drop of each onto the three candles. “With Oil meant to burn away corruption, Oil meant for purification and Essence to aid in exorcising the wicked, I offer these slain beasts to you so that I may receive your blessing!”
After the last sentence, Colin saw the colours around him get brighter, the spirit world!, and above those colours were seven distinct lights, but it didn't end there. Behind the lights was a thick grey fog and above it a magnificent casting. He could see sitting there upon a throne a figure shrouded in mystery and fog, The Fool, and next to Him stood a smirking Amon. In front of the God a figure formed, an angel filled with light and covered in fog, and with a gesture from the God, the Angel descended and wrapped its 12 wings around Colin. Soon after the vision faded.
“Beautiful,” tears filled his eyes at the vision he just saw. He could feel the blessing radiating off of him. Despite wanting to bask in the feeling, he quickly drank the potion. It felt like he was losing control, turning into a monster like the ones he hunts, but feeling the hunting trophies around him, remembering killing those dreadful beasts on his own, he came back to himself. After some time, he opened his eyes. He has succeeded, he is a sequence 3 Silver Knight.
With a sore body, he turned to Derrick, “You go there every week? To the palace above the spirit world?”
Derrick was happy, Mr. Fool showed them all the truth with this blessing, and now everyone will be able to worship Him. “Yes! Did you see the Angel that carries the blessing? Felt His wings wrap around you?”
“It was beautiful, seeing the Angel with 12 wings descend onto me, it felt so warm…”
~~
“See Mom! I told you that it would be fine! Look at how happy they are”
“Yes Amon, I see that…” he promptly kicked Amon out of the fog, that blessing had taken all his considerable spiritually. He didn't have the strength to watch the conclusion of Little Sun's meeting, he just wanted to sleep now.
~~
Amon was back in his body, looking at the council excitedly talking about the successful ritual. “See! I told you that I'll work! You need to have more faith in Mother ~” His Mother might have kicked him out of the castle, but still, it doesn't change the fact that he's right!
“Mr. Amon! You're back. The Chief’s ritual was a success!”
“I saw, even got the best spot to watch everything!” While saying this, Amon could still feel the phantom pains around his right ear.
Derrick gave a light glare to the council, “Mr. Amon, the majority of the council want to introduce Mr. Fool in a way that's subservient to our Lord instead of as His equal, despite me trying to describe that Yin-Yang Mr. Fool used to show how They are equals.”
Hearing this Amon grinned a sharp grin, one that was absolutely shark like, and adjusted his monocle. “Sure, go ahead. But only if you feel like you can handle the consequences~”
Colin, who was Siding with Derrick about this, asked what the consequences will be.
“Oh I don't know! Mother is very creative you see! Father always told me I took a lot after Mother, if that helps give you an idea.”
They all shuddered at that though, but unfortunately Amon continued. “Recently Mother targeted the three Angels that betrayed my Father, punishing their most faithful, cursing them! The Wind Angel's followers now fear storms, lighting and the ocean, Wisdom Angel's followers can no longer keep written knowledge and, finally, the White Angel’s main cathedral is drenched in the same darkness as these lands! It was glorious to see! And let's not even talk about the poor little demoness that broke an agreement she made with Mother, and did everything to hide and run away. What was it that Mother told her again? It was something along the lines of how she is now a puppet that only dances to Mother's tune! Poor little thing’s been constantly praying for forgiveness since.” Amon wiped an imaginary tear from his eye, and went straight back to grinning.
“Even Father feared Mother's wrath, so if you want to tempt fate by angering Him, please go ahead, I mean it. I reeaaally~ want to see what Mother comes up with next.”
After hearing that, the council decided to do as Derrick said when it comes to matters of the Fool. Lovia especially, was shocked to hear Amon tell that even her Lord feared the Fool so.
~~
Back with Klein, he just settled in to sleep after spending so much spirituality, when he felt the bed dip and a small body curl up next to him, not quite like Amon, more shy almost, as if wanting to be there but being scared to ask. Opening his eyes he saw Adam in the form of a child, closer to 7 years old as opposed to Amon's preferred 4 years old form.
He couldn't help but smile and think, how cute!, and knowing Adam wouldn't outright ask to cuddle next to him, reached out an arm and dragged him closer.
Adam let out a soft yelp at suddenly getting dragged, but soon settled against his chest with a happy sigh.