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“I have a gift for you.”
A voice broke through Zhou Mingrui’s thoughts as ‘He’ sat across from the Creator mulling over what activities to do with the little angels - Amon and Adam, next. The voice belonged to Grisha, the angels’ father - their good-for-nothing father, a snide voice added in Mingrui’s mind, as they were the only two in Grisha’s tea room.
Mingrui was visiting for ‘His’ weekly meeting/gossip session with the idiot, who begrudgingly was actually ‘His’ friend. Though ‘He’ would never admit it out loud in front of the smug bastard.
“A gift?” Zhou Mingrui asked, tilting ‘His’ head slightly, silently indicating to Grisha to explain.
“It popped out of the Chaos Sea a while back,” Grisha gestured, pulling a small item from the air.
It was a mirror, about the size of a large book. The edges were adorned with silver with two eyes on each side. Its back was covered in ancient looking patterns, though none that Mingrui could place. The front shone brightly, reflecting Mingrui’s face as well as the rest of the room before rippling slightly.
From the ripples, text began to appear, replacing Zhou Mingrui’s reflection. The words slowly spelled out, “Great Master above the Spirit World, your humble and loyal servant Arrodes is very pleased and honoured to finally meet you!”
The words disappeared before being quickly replaced by new text, Mingrui could sense a feeling of frantic enthusiasm emanating from the otherwise inanimate object. “Do you have a question for this lowly servant?”
Mingrui’s eyebrow raised slightly, amused by the mirror’s ingratiating tone towards ‘Him.’ ‘His’ eyes flickered towards the god still holding the mirror.
“Arrodes seems to have taken a liking to you,” Grisha beamed lightly before handing the mirror over to Mingrui. Upon contact, the Fool felt the mirror tremble slightly... in excitement?
The Fool was utterly baffled by this sentient mirror, as ‘He’ glanced once more at the Creator who had handed ‘Him’ the questionable item.
Grisha shrugged and gestured towards the object. “You can ask it questions, it’ll be happy to answer them all for you.”
“What questions can I ask it?” questioned Zhou Mingrui, still wary of the item in ‘His’ hands.
Grisha smiled ambiguously and remained silent.
Zhou Mingrui sighed before repeating ‘His’ question, this time directed at the odd mirror. “What questions can I ask?”
Text hurriedly spelt out the mirror’s answer. “Your humble servant Arrodes is capable of answering any and all questions the Great Master may have, whether it be locating a specific person or item, or even showcasing the events of past epochs!”
The text was quickly wiped away before new words appeared on the surface, albeit a bit slower as if in hesitation. “Though this humble servant requests the Great Master not to dive too deep into the happenings of certain beings.”
“Not that the Great Master would ever need to do so, seeing as ‘He’ is the great and almighty ruler above the Spirit World and I, Arrodes, am but a simple and lowly mirror!”
Zhou Mingrui hummed in consideration. So Arrodes is basically a mystical version of Google, with limitations imposed upon it based on this world’s own rules. ‘He’ laughed in ‘His’ mind. Like divine-level censorship I suppose.
‘He’ nodded at the mirror, indicating that ‘He’ had seen the response. Zhou Mingrui made a move to put Arrodes away, opting to play with it more in the sanctuary of Sefirah Castle. ‘He’ shifted ‘His’ robe out of the way, revealing a pocket deeper than its physical appearance, before new text rapidly appeared on the surface once more.
“Great Master, this humble Arrodes must abide by the principle of reciprocity.”
Mingrui sighed, of course an artifact of this level had a catch. “Proceed.”
“In exchange for an answer, the Great Master must also answer one of this humble servant’s questions.”
Mingrui nodded, waiting for the mirror’s question. When nothing appeared on the surface, ‘His’ eyebrow quirked slightly. A bug?
At the Fool’s prolonged silence, the mirror’s surface finally rippled with a mildly baffling statement. “Great Master, this servant has already given you a question to answer.”
Zhou Mingrui’s brow furrowed as ‘He’ recalled the brief interaction with the mirror before landing on the second thing the mirror had shown ‘Him’ - “Do you have a question for this lowly servant?”
That is a question? So simple? Mingrui mused. Perhaps the mirror’s questions vary depending on the difficulty of the question asked.
“I have no questions.”
With that response, the mirror’s surface rippled once more, a small waving hand appearing before settling down back into the regular reflective nature of a normal mirror.
The Fool looked up at the Creator who had been observing the entire interaction in silence.
Grisha smiled. “Now you can have a degree of omnisciency as well.”
“What do you want?” Mingrui huffed, ignoring the god’s comment.
“Want?” Grisha answered, before tilting ‘His’ head slightly to the side with a wide smile. On anyone else, the action might’ve been endearing, adorable even, but on the almighty Creator, it was mildly terrifying.
Mingrui’s eyes narrowed slightly. “We’ve always abided by the principle of equivalent exchange.”
“Can’t a friend just give ‘His’ friend a gift with no strings attached?” laughed Grisha, before ‘His’ face settled into an oddly serious expression.
“Something tells me Arrodes will be important in the future,” Grisha explained. “In our future.”
“For now, take it as a favour owed,” ‘He’ continued. “If that bothers you, take it as payment for watching over the two brats.”
Mingrui grimaced imperceptibly. An undisclosed favour for a god is what I don’t want! There’s no way me watching over the kids is enough payment for this artifact. ‘He’ sighed, knowing that the god before ‘Him’ wouldn’t take no for an answer regardless of ‘His’ protests.
“Very well.”
With that, the Fool blinked out of existence, leaving the Creator alone in the sunny tea room.
“Mr. Fool! Mr. Fool!”
A small voice pulled Zhou Mingrui back from ‘His’ thoughts. ‘He’ looked down to see the little Angel of Time - Amon, gently tugging the bottom of ‘His’ cloak as he pointed towards the table in front of the Fool’s throne. Adam stood next to the table, silently observing his brother as he pet one of the hounds that had materialized for their weekly play date with the children.
Successfully getting the god’s attention, Amon didn’t wait for ‘His’ response, barrelling forward with his question. “What’s that thing?”
The item Amon gestured at was none other than Arrodes, the mirror the kids’ father had “gifted” ‘Him’ earlier that same day. Zhou Mingrui had wanted to test the mirror’s capabilities upon arriving back at Sefirah Castle before ‘His’ spiritual intuition had alerted ‘Him’ to the arrival of the two young angels. The mirror had been cast aside onto the table, forgotten, until this moment.
Zhou Mingrui picked up the mirror before settling back down at ‘His’ seat. ‘He’ showed Arrodes’ silver surface to the curious little angel standing before ‘Him.’
“It was a gift from your father,” ‘He’ explained, allowing Amon to pick up the mirror to inspect closer.
To Amon’s delight, the silver surface rippled before a simple greeting spilled across the surface.
“Hello, I’m Arrodes.”
Amon’s eyes sparkled in wonder, as he turned to look up at the Fool.
“It can talk!”
Zhou Mingrui smiled slightly. “Indeed it can. It can answer any question your heart desires.”
At Amon’s wide-eyed and excited gaze, Zhou Mingrui continued, “Within reason of course.”
Zhou Mingrui’s “make the little inhuman angels more human” plan had been going fairly smoothly thus far, as smoothly as a fully divine god from an epoch long forgotten who often sequestered ‘Himself’ alone in a castle inherited from another divine being could make it, but was still fully aware of Amon’s seemingly inherent need to create mischief and push boundaries.
“Who am I?” Amon asked excitedly.
Zhou Mingrui chuckled lowly, amused by the fairly simple and childish question.
Arrodes’ surface spelled out the answer, “Amon.”
Perhaps sensing the Fool’s gaze, and in an attempt to ingratiate itself with the god, the simple answer quickly disappeared before more words replaced it.
“Amon, the Angel of Time. Brother to Adam, the Angel of Imagination. Child of the Creator, born with the Error Uniqueness and is a Sequence 1 Worm of Time.”
After the angel had read the second more in-depth answer out loud, the text faded and was replaced by a question.
“Who is Amon’s favourite person?”
At Amon’s questioning gaze, the Fool explained, “Arrodes abides by the rule of reciprocity, to answer one of your questions, you must answer one of its in return.”
A spark of enlightenment twinkled in Amon’s eye as understanding dawned upon him.
“Mr. Fool!”
The aforementioned Fool’s eyebrows raised at the answer as excited fireworks sparkled on the surface of the mirror. Text spelt out the word, “Correct!” before a quick paragraph detailing why the angel’s choice was apparently “correct” zoomed across the screen, much like credits rolling at the end of a movie. The text moved too quickly for the little angel to read any of it, much to his dismay.
Zhou Mingrui metaphorically rolled ‘His’ eyes as ‘He’ bemoaned the odd artifact that seemed keen on kissing up to ‘Him’ at every turn. Grisha, what kind of weird gift is this??!!
Amon and Adam continued to play with Arrodes for a bit, asking silly questions and answering Arrodes’ in turn. Amon for once, was fairly restrained in his mischief, abiding by the Fool’s warning. A question about the Fool ‘Himself’ sent Arrodes trembling in fear as it fell silent, evidently afraid of angering his Master.
The Fool merely waved off the concern, the question was fairly innocuous, one about ‘His’ preferred drink of choice. The mirror visibly relaxed in a very odd human-like manner, before answering the child’s inquiry. And so the question and answer session continued before the two angels were sent back to their father for the day.
In the now silent Sefirah Castle, Zhou Mingrui held up the mirror to ‘His’ face, considering ‘His’ next move.
“Arrodes.”
“Yes, Great Master?”
“Tell me more about the children, their likes and dislikes.”
Zhou Mingrui sighed into the quiet of Sefirah Castle, disturbing the grey fog slightly as ‘He’ sat on ‘His’ throne. ‘He’ considered the two objects before ‘Him,’ one on ‘His’ lap, one in ‘His’ hands, turning it this way and that before ‘He’ sighed once more.
Why am I overthinking this, they’ll either like them or not? It’s not like I have a reputation to uphold or anything. They’re just kids. Zhou Mingrui mentally berated ‘Himself.’ Though their idiot father is definitely going to tease me over this.
Resigning ‘Himself,’ Zhou Mingrui placed both of the objects onto the table before ‘His’ throne, fussing over their arrangement, tilting them this way and that before the barking of the hounds alerted ‘Him’ to the arrival of the children.
Amon and Adam entered, Amon bursting through the door furthest from the throne, Adam walking in sedately afterwards, accompanied by the hounds, gently shutting the ancient door behind him. The two children greeted the god waiting for them at the head of the table, one bright and chaotic, the other calm and placid.
As the two approached the throne, Adam’s eyes caught on the two objects placed before the god. His pale eyes traced over the forms, and how they had evidently been arranged with care. He tilted his head in mild confusion, he knew what the objects were representative of, but didn’t understand the function. He locked eyes with the god observing his reactions, a small yet hesitant(?) smile on ‘His’ face.
Amon had finally noticed the new items placed before the god, a beat behind his brother. As he drew closer, he stopped and turned, stretching on his tiptoes to look at the two items more closely.
Zhou Mingrui smiled at Amon’s blatant curiosity as ‘He’ waited for Adam to come closer.
Adam, upon arriving at the head of the table where the god sat waiting, also swept his eyes over the objects now presented in clear detail. His curiosity was less blatant than his brother’s but nonetheless there.
Before the two brothers were two animals of sorts. One was spectacularly round, made of a dark fabric complete with a silly curious hat that resembled the one Amon was so fond of and was currently sporting. A beak and button eyes adorned what was presumably the face of the object, while its back tapered off into what looked like a tail of sorts. If Adam had to guess, this object resembled a bird of some sort, though a ridiculously round and almost spherical one, not of this world.
The other animal was long and serpentine, mostly made of a light fabric though it was decorated with shimmers of gold thread mimicking scales. It was wrapped around the round bird object, as if embracing it. Tufts of golden fur adorned the back of the animal, the tail tapering off into a point before more fur formed the rest. Adam thought it resembled a snake, though the fur and apparent horns on top of its head threw off his estimations.
Zhou Mingrui cleared ‘His’ throat before reaching for the vaguely bird-shaped object. ‘He’ placed it in Amon’s hands, leaving the little angel to marvel at its softness and size - for it completely dwarfed his head, before reaching for the serpentine object, placing it in Adam’s hands.
Adam tilted his head in question, ignoring his brother who had begun to bury his face into the plush ball, marvelling at its apparent softness. “Mr. Fool, what are these?”
Zhou Mingrui’s eyes slid off to the side, oddly hesitant. If Adam were to be shamelessly blasphemous with his thoughts, he would say the god looked shy at that moment.
“Gifts.” ‘He’ muttered, uncharacteristically gruff.
‘He’ swung ‘His’ eyes back to Adam who still stood there observing ‘Him’ in silence, small hands gently patting the tufts of fur lining the back of his gift.
Zhou Mingrui flashed back to ‘His’ earlier argument with ‘Himself’ before sighing in ‘His’ mind.
“They’re dolls.” ‘He’ explained, falling back into ‘His’ teaching mode. “Some people also call them plushies. They’re usually modelled after people or animals.”
‘He’ was unsure of how much the twin angels knew of human children and their toys, seeing as the two hadn’t even known how to play with dogs or snow before meeting the god.
‘He’ gestured at the two dolls the children were currently clutching to their chests. Amon was still rubbing his little face against the doll in his hands, arms struggling to wrap fully around the plush ball.
“Amon’s is a crow, though a very… round one, as you can see.”
“Yours is a dragon, though not one from our epochs. It’s based on another kind of dragon that has no wings and is more serpentine in appearance.”
“Arrodes told me that they’re your favourite animals…” Zhou Mingrui trailed off in ‘His’ explanation, mildly embarrassed by the lengths ‘He’ had taken to source the information regarding this gift as well as acquiring them in the first place. ‘He’ recalled the odd looks the seamstress in the neighbouring town had thrown ‘His’ way upon hearing ‘His’ description and seeing ‘His’ crude sketch. Though that had been quickly resolved with good old fashioned money. Sourcing the plush fabrics has also been difficult, the clothing technology of the current epoch not matching up to the eras past.
“Why gifts?” Adam asked, pulling the god back from the rabbit hole ‘His’ brain had begun to travel down.
Zhou Mingrui frowned at the question, unprepared.
“I wanted to. There’s no reason needed to give gifts.”
Adam opened his mouth, about to ask about equivalent exchange and all the other concepts he heard thrown around in his Father’s court, before he was interrupted by his brother who had finally emerged from behind the fluffiness of his doll.
“I love it, Mr. Fool!” Amon exclaimed before wandering towards where the Fool sat, journey mildly obstructed by the large crow plushie securely clutched in his arms before him. He sat the doll gently to the side of the Fool, before to everyone’s shock, clamouring onto the Fool’s lap and wrapping his arms around the god’s neck in a gentle embrace.
Adam and the Fool froze, both uncertain over how things had progressed.
Zhou Mingrui’s arms tentatively enveloped the little angel still embracing him, returning the hug.
It was… warm, oddly so. Zhou Mingrui had fully expected the angel to be cold like him, seeing as they were both Mythical Creatures. But instead, the little angel was warm, much like a human child’s high body temperature. His hug was gentle but grounding, settling something that had long ago been unknowingly knocked loose in Zhou Mingrui’s chest. The god quickly realized ‘He’ hadn’t been hugged like this in many, many years.
“Thank you!” chirped Amon, directly into the god’s ear, unintentionally preventing the downward spiral that the Fool was beginning to enter.
‘He’ smiled, pulling away slightly to meet the young angel’s eyes.
Amon’s eyes crinkled slightly as he beamed back at the god. He settled into the god’s lap, reaching down towards the crow he had placed beside him. The Fool unleashed one of ‘His’ tentacles, the mysterious appendage deftly grasping the round crow and placing it back in Amon’s lap. The angel smiled again, hugging the spherical doll to his chest once more.
Zhou Mingrui glanced back towards Adam who had been standing there quietly after being interrupted by his brother’s words and subsequent actions. The angel stood there observing the god and angel almost snuggled together on the throne. His hands had paused in their stroking motions, clutching the tuft of golden fur tightly. His brow furrowed slightly as Adam’s face turned peculiarly stormy.
Amon turned his face towards the Fool’s chest, nuzzling the smooth cloak that covered the rest of ‘His’ clothing with his cheek. He giggled softly, rocking himself back and forth on the Fool’s lap as the god steadied him.
At that motion, Adam’s gaze hardened imperceptibly, zooming in on where his brother rested against the Fool. His bottom lip began to jut out subtly.
Zhou Mingrui’s eyebrows raised slightly, mildly amused by the new expression crossing the often expressionless angel’s face. ‘He’ was very used to Amon’s pouts when he didn’t get his way, though those had appeared less and less as the trio interacted more. The god was very much unaccustomed to the same expression, almost identical to his brother’s, crossing the Angel of Imagination’s face.
Is he… jealous?
At the sight of the angel’s increasingly stormy gaze as Amon wiggled to make himself even more comfortable in the god’s lap, Zhou Mingrui concluded that ‘His’ initial observation was indeed correct, even though it went wildly against ‘His’ understanding of the other small angel’s character.
‘He’ reached out ‘His’ free hand, beckoning the silently pouting Adam closer. Adam quickly recomposed his face, which had begun to take on a terrifying glare at this point, before walking towards the god.
Zhou Mingrui patted the free side of ‘His’ lap, silently indicating the angel was free to join them.
Adam paused briefly, glancing over at his brother who had monopolized the god for himself. Amon had once again buried his face into the crow plush, rocking it back and forth, unaware of his brother’s slightly murderous aura.
Adam climbed onto the throne, gingerly settling himself onto the god’s lap beside his brother, back against the god’s chest. He glanced down at the dragon plush still clutched in his hand, before softly whispering, “Thank you, Mr. Fool.”
Zhou Mingrui smiled warmly down at the back of the angel’s head, understanding the underlying message the angel was trying to convey to him without verbalizing it. He raised ‘His’ free hand, delicately carding ‘His’ fingers through the angel’s soft golden hair.
Adam melted against the Fool, before beginning to pet his dragon doll in mimicry of the Fool’s motions.
Once the two children had finished their independent explorations of their respective presents, they turned to each other, still in the Fool’s lap, and engaged in a small game of pretend using the dolls.
The Fool smiled down at them, endeared by the adorable sight of the twin angels acting so much like regular children.
“Adam.”
The Fool’s soft voice tickled the angel’s ear. He turned to look at the god who still sat unmoving on ‘His’ throne across the room, observing the children who were now leaving. Adam glanced at his brother, who had begun to play a game of catch with his ball-shaped doll on their way out, oblivious to the god who had apparently only spoken to the Angel of Imagination.
At the angel’s backwards glance, Zhou Mingrui smiled warmly across the room before continuing, voice only echoing in Adam’s ears.
“It’s okay to ask for what your heart desires.”