Going Behind the Curtain

Ivan POV

it was Night time.

Ivan was seated at the edge of the enormous walls, his legs dangling over the abyss below. The walls, ancient and scarred, loomed between the Crimson Labyrinth and the distant sprawl of the Dark City, separating the chaotic unknown from the fragile remnants of human civilization.

The air here was thick with salty smell of the sea. He exhaled, watching the mist of his breath dissolve into the cold night. The weight of his new robes settled on his shoulders—simple white clergy robes that outlined his sharp figure. The fabric was light yet felt heavy, as if burdened with expectation.

Beside him, stood a man who could have been his twin—if not for the stark contrast between them. This was Adam, his apparition, his other self… The Hanged Man version of him.

Adam's robes were black, more ornate, trimmed with gold at the edges, as though fate itself had draped him in authority. His hair, unlike Ivan's pure blond, was deep black, but at the roots, hints of golden blonde glowed faintly. The two of them remained in silence, the wind carrying whispers from the lands behind and below them.

"Do you feel it?" Adam finally broke the silence.

Ivan didn't answer immediately. He tilted his head back, looking at the vast, stary sky. "Feel what?"

"The shifting of the trends. The pieces of fate falling into place."

Ivan smirked, resting his arms on his knees. "That's your way of saying things are going to hell, isn't it?"

Adam chuckled. "Aren't they always?"

Adam paused for a moment before continuing.

"despite being being aware of all the things that is going to happen, we remain helpless against fate.."

Adam's golden eyes gleamed in the dim light as he continued, his voice seemed to carry the sins of humanity.

"Fate is always so unpredictable. No one can truly know what will happen next, even if we were omniscient. 'We' have seen more with every attempt, every iteration… yet despite our so-called omniscience and omnipotence, all it has done is reveal our own insignificance."

He turned his gaze down towards the outer wall, where the waves crashed endlessly against it. "The more you know, the more you understand just how powerless we truly are… we cling to the illusion of control, but fate is a gambler that takes without warning, the best was to put it is 'A price is always exacted for what fate bestows.' "

Ivan remained silent, watching as the wind tousled the ends of his robe. He had always known this truth, but hearing it aloud from his other self made it feel heavier—like chains coiling around his existence, how ironic.

Adam let out a quiet laugh, though there was no real humor in it—only the weight that he could barely hold.

"How ironic," he murmured, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon. "'We' once strived to save them all… only to become better at destroying them and ourselves."

The words lingered in the cold night air, settling between them like an unshakable truth. Ivan clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms beneath the fabric of his robes. He didn't refute it—he couldn't. Because no matter how much they tried to navigate fate, to bend it to their will, the outcome never truly changed.

Finally, Ivan sighed. "So… we just watch? Let things play out?"

"Isn't that what a spectator does?" Adam turned to face him, a smirk playing on his lips. "but… so far there is no problem in meddling a bit, if we can't change the outcome we can make sure it goes down the road 'we want',"

Adam's golden eyes gleamed. "Especially if its for 'her'."

***

It's heavy… so damn heavy…

My apparition had only mentioned a small bit of information regarding our past—our attempts. And yet, even that much was unbearable. Hours had passed, and I still found it impossible to believe. Absolute bullshit. Tomb of Ariel? Error? What bullshit.

Just how many people have I killed?

Just how many have I sacrificed—for my sake, for her sake?

It's laughable.

I exhaled sharply, forcing my breath to come out heavy—intentionally so. My body trembled, but my eyes remained dry. The tears wanted to come, but they refused to fall. Maybe they understood something I didn't. Maybe they knew I had no right to cry.

I had killed so many.

Sunny. Nephis. Kai. Effie.

I had made them into… things. I felt sick just thinking about it. They had been experiments, nothing more than test subjects for 'my' grand design. And when I didn't find the results I wanted? I made new people. Brought them into existence. Gave them life, only to mold them into lab rats just the same.

People who once had sons ended up with daughters. Those who were meant to live died in infancy, while others, fated for the grave, survived. Families rewritten, histories altered—all because of me.

And for what?

A ridiculous, exaggerated smile stretched across my face. I could feel it twisting, warping, something between amusement and despair.

I'm not even real.

and worse i would cease to exist, if i try to break free.

No wonder nothing ever made sense. Everything—from the moment I opened my eyes, from the moment I set foot in the Academy, from the moment I made my first plan—had been nothing but a pre-made decision.

it had not even been that long but at the same time it had been an eternity.

but that didn't matter because, I had turned my own bloody unreal self into an experiment as well.

From the corner of my vision, I saw Adam lower his head slightly, his golden eyes narrowing as he studied me.

"Not all hope is lost," he said, his voice steady, unwavering. "We still have a chance to make things right. Now."

His words sent a shiver through me—not of fear, but something far worse. Hope.

"We might not have a good history, but our history has not happened and will not happen." Adam continued, his tone edged with something I couldn't quite place. "I don't know the full scope of our plan, but one thing is certain and you have already succeeded in one part of it."

I stared at him.

Then it clicked. Humanity.

It was obvious now—painfully so. From everything Adam had told me, it was clear that the "me" before had almost no humanity at all. No real emotions, no true moral restraints. The only thing that had ever driven that me, the only thing that had ever mattered, was her.

That was why the atrocities had been possible. That was why I had done things no sane person could even comprehend.

But the me sitting here now? I was different.

This version of me—this Avatar—was made for one reason: to gain humanity as quickly as possible.

And when the time came?

To overtake the godhood of the main body.

A twisted, almost poetic inversion of the Mad Prince's plan. Except, in this case, it was humanity trying to devour godhood. It was the godhood itself making sure that I gained humanity. Intentionally.

and then, when the moment arrived—merge. Push back the godhood. Suppress it.

But… why?

Why the sudden change? From what I knew of my past self, the main body had never shown any interest in gaining humanity. If anything, the old me had considered it a hindrance.

Even to me, the main body's plans were elusive, nearly impossible to predict.

It made sense in a way. The main me had pre-planned everything—down to the finest detail. I wasn't meant to deviate. I wasn't meant to rebel. And yet…

I had my own freedom.

So long as I achieved the objective, nothing else mattered.

I turned to Adam, my voice low. "Where is our main body? And our other personas?"

Adam replied shortly, his tone flat. "Our main body's location is unknown. Even if we did know, it would be somewhere nearly impossible to reach. As for our other personas… one of them is in Europe, the other in the Storm Sea, and the last is likely somewhere in the Saharan Desert."

I exhaled sharply,

It doesn't matter.

The main body isn't the objective here—my other personas are.

According to Adam, they were one of the key reasons for my bottleneck, the reason I couldn't fully unlock my arsenal of power.

Right now, my abilities were a pathetic imitation of the original.

Which was insane.

Because even as a Sleeper, my current power was already beyond reason.

But Adam had warned me.

"Just because I willingly merged with you doesn't mean our other persona's would. instead they might even be hostile."

The other three—Tyrant, Sun, White Tower—wouldn't be as cooperative as he was. Unlike Adam, who had willingly merged with me, they would be reluctant, if not outright hostile.

Each of them had their own pride, their own ambitions.

And to make it worse, our power—the Visionary's power—was evenly distributed among us.

My main body… that sick fuck.

It was as if he had designed all of this intentionally, pushing us into a death match where only one of us could remain.

atleast there is a limitation placed on them, so when i meet them i would have to throw hands with them… ugh.

on the other hand Adam wasn't like them. Whether it was understanding or just sheer laziness, he had chosen to merge with me without a fight but when did he merge tho?.

I turned to him, my expression clearly unimpressed.

"This should at least give me an advantage against them."

…

so the next move is set, get out of here and find my other selves while making sure the story goes as the original, which makes no sense if my main body had already planned everything to go according to how it should then why would my intervention and overseeing be needed…

oh no.. then it finally snapped, while everything happened as it should have, one detail didn't, harper… i had been in harper's place, and because of that harper didn't ask sunny about his true name…. OH FOR FUCKS SAKE'S.

of course things would would go as planned, AS FATED'S PLAN, nephis would die and sunny would kill her according to the original story, but without harper asking about sunny's true name and hence saying it aloud allowing cassie to see it in a vision, Nephis wouldn't be saved and everything would go out of line.

but that night had already passed yesterday, i didn't even notice it, because Caster didn't come that night..

it hasn't been long and i am already messing up.

in a sudden surge of panic, my mind raced to find a solution,

"what do i do!"

"what do i do!"

"what do i do!"

and then it clicked.

wasn't caster's sudden appearance during the murder of Harper almost.. coincidental.

i then summoned the runes of my aspect legacy that i have not used..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aspect Legacy:

[Quill of Alzuhod]

Description: [ The legendary quill you wield has the power to bring anything written with it to life, within the bounds of reason. What is penned will take shape in the real world, guided by the logic of your vision. With each stroke, you etch reality itself, molding the future through words alone.]

[Unwanted Attention]

Description: [ When you place a mark upon someone, a direct connection forms between you and the marked. Through this bond, you gain the ability to communicate with or bestow gifts upon them. Your meta-awareness sharpens—anything spoken or thought about you will be known to you. The deeper the mark, the more influence you gain; as the marked's trust and belief in you grow, so does your power over them, allowing you to manipulate their actions and perceptions with greater ease. The more they know of you, the more you know of them. ]

Memory Name: [Quill of Alzuhod]

Memory Rank: [???]

Memory Type: [Enchanted Artifact]

Memory Enchantments: [Fated], [Why is this happening!!?]

[Fated] Description: [Anything written by it, within logical boundaries, will come true.]

[Why is this happening!!?] description: [ the more you use it the more it will throw you in unwanted scenario's ]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I Summoned the memory, then i looked at adam..

Adam only shrugged and gestured "ei, i don't know anything, you do you".

yep he is definitely the lazy type, just like sunny's last shadow.

the reason i never used it even though i could have been in advantageous positions, is because of the second enchantment of the Aspect legacy [Why is this happening!!?].

as its self explanatory, if i use it to make a scene happen, this enchantment would throw me in a situation equal to that i made, and i have a feeling that situation i get thrown into wouldn't be merciful, a price is always paid.

but right now i have no other choice, if i don't do it, the main cast will fall apart. I am sorry sunny, really…

taking a deep breath, i prepared my self for the worse, while Adam stood and watched with a amused and gleeful expression.

just as i imagined the scene from the novel, the pen moved along with my hand, as it started to write on thin air as though it was paper.

the runes were then translated by the spell…

[As Harper and Sunny remained seated in their tent on the outskirts of the settlement, their conversation continued as usual. However, Harper asked a question he should not have, "Do you have a True Name?"

Sunny was taken aback as a primal instinct surged within him, he compelled himself to resist and lie. Yet, his flaw was absolute. No amount of resistance could change the inevitable. Without warning, a dagger manifested in his hand, and before he could fully process his actions, he plunged it into Harper. As the blade sank in, Sunny spoke his True Name aloud, his voice hollow, "Lost From Light… My True Name is Lost From Light."

Harper's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at his murderer, his life slipping away before he could utter a single word. It was at this moment that Caster, the Scion of the Han Li clan, entered the tent. His timing was truly unfortunate, for he had business to attend to. Yet, he was not the only witness. Another presence lingered, hidden within the shroud of fate. ]

the quill continued…

[ This is a reasonable development. ]