Reality

This church brings me an odd sense of comfort and uneasiness at the same second. I know it's a safe space for me to be as they revere me as a god. There are a few people still here but it's not as populated as the other places I got to visit. I just head straight for the office where Phinnis is.

Stepping in, he looks extremely happy to see me. "Welcome back! I hope your journey was fruitful." He has a smile until he reads my face. "Or it seems that you've come up empty. Come have a seat." He offers the chair at his desk. He stands to give it to me. Typically, I would let him keep it but I think I could use it.

I take his seat while he takes the one across the desk, "Tell me young one, what happened?"

To spare him the nitty-gritty details but give him the overall story of how some crazy zealots kidnapped me and some friends of mine, and that led to where I am now after rescuing them. He didn't seem phased by any of this. He nodded and kept up as I spilled the information to him. Once I collapsed back into the chair he spoke once again, "While I cannot read all of these journals, there are pieces that I can glean from them. As you've learned and probably have been told time and time again, you will be faced with challenges that no other can tackle only because you are the only one you can take them on."

That sounds to be in the same vain that Madam Odette has told me time and time again. She worked to prepare me for events like this. It seems to have paid off so far. Phinnis handed me the box of writings that I had seen before. "While it may not provide the exact answer, your past selves may have advice for you going forward. I will leave you to them."

He left with a nod ensuring that no one would bother me. There are so many different writings here. I don't know how long it would take to go through all of these or what kind of information they could provide. I grab what looks to be a charred book from the pile. The pages are illegible from all the damage that it's taken over the years. I can't even tell if there's any evidence that this is from a past nine-tailed fox.

I look at the book sitting on the desk and finally ask, "What is your story?" The room around me seems to fade away in a familiar fashion. I find myself sitting in a library looking down at the book I was attempting to read. It's new. It's undamaged but the location of where I am looks old itself. From the stonework, it may be a castle. I wonder how far back this took me. The voice I hear is from the writer.

"I hope that whoever finds this is one who holds the power that I have. This is to serve as a warning. You will be lonely in life as there is no one you can trust. Those who say they want to help you are the ones who will be the end of you. I wish I could share what I have seen beyond this medium. There is a record out there of the repeating tragedy of the nine-tailed fox. I have seen it but it is there for a reason. Anyone who is cursed with this power should see it but I worry that there are many who will not. There is no way to break this cycle but there is a way to fight it."

I try to look around the area where they are sitting but there's tunnel vision. The others I have seen allowed me to see the world around them. This is very different. The writer is solely focused on this message. It leaves many questions that I would like to be answered. There isn't anything more here. They continue to preach a warning about the world. I can't tell what happened. They never poured any of that information into this. It was just a warning before the vision goes hazy before going black.

I find myself leaning back in Phinnis's chair, back in the office he left me in. That was different. The others told me the story of the life they had. They shared experiences but this was just a letter to warn future holders of this power. It seemed as though it was a strong warning as well.

Phinnis returns to his office after a time. He seems in good spirits but notices that I am not, "Discovered something have you?"

"Yes but no. Nothing that tells me anything."

"That is a shame. But! Your life will be full of mysteries that need to be solved."

"No kidding." I sat myself up to get up from his chair, "I still need to figure out exactly who was the group that kidnapped me at my parent's house."

"Yes, and where your family is."

"That's going to be the priority."

I sigh looking down at the burnt book on the table. The words ring in my ears once again.

"Those who say they want to help you are the ones who will be the end of you."

The warning is ominous. It serves as a clear warning that is fairly easy to understand. There will be those who say they wish to help you but will be the ones to bring your own downfall. I look at Phinnis as he stands before me with a slight smile. He seems pleased that I am OK. "Phinnis, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course! I am always willing to assist in any way that I can?"

"Do you know where my parents might be?"

"Ah, sadly I do not. That is outside of my knowledge."

"That's funny." I stand up from his desk and walk around the desk. "I only ask because you seemed to know that my family was missing when I didn't mention that they were gone."

I move to ensure that he can't leave the room. There are many details that I told him but I did not mention that my parents were missing. "Ah, well, I have ears in a lot of places."

"Do those ears speak? Did they tell certain people that I would be somewhere, say my parent's house, at a certain time where I would have my guard down for being in a familiar area?"

He's stopped talking. His eyes look flustered but there's a sense of relief behind him. "Phinnis, explain yourself." He let out a deep sigh as he just seemed to relax. His demeanor changed immediately. His cheery attitude was offputting as he spoke, "I do owe you an apology but I want you to understand that what I'm doing is for you."

There is nothing he can say that allows this to end well. "Phinnis, where is my family?"

"I don't know. I honestly do not know."

"Why did you tell those freaks where I would be?"

"They are a church dedicated to your annihilation. I told them where you were so you could know of them. I was certain that with your power, they would not be any trouble."

"You sent me into a den and I killed them."

"They needed to learn of your power!"

"I! Killed! People!"

He seemed to explode at that sentence. Not in the manner many would expect. "That's what you do! You are a creature that is meant to bring destruction. Empires have fallen to their knees with your word. You are power incarnate!" There's a fire in his eyes that's different than before. He's beginning to show his true colors. There's something that doesn't sit right with me. "Phinnis, you will answer any question I have, correct?"

"To the best of my ability, yes."

"You're not with this church, are you?"

He goes silent. The smile on his face only grows. "You haven't figured it out but you're getting it. Allow me to explain. There is the group that you met at your home. They believe that you are a creature of destruction and need to be stopped. They work hard to kill an incarnation of the nine-tailed fox. There is this group here. They are fanatically dedicated to you and will give their lives to see the greatness that you will bring. And then there is my church."

He mentioned this church but also another one that is his. Does he not belong to this one? Or is he working as a mole? I have to stay on my guard. "Red, what you don't understand is that there are those that support you and will do anything for you. I am one of those. My church believes that you are a creature of destruction but with destruction comes creation. Empires fell but new ones rose up and created a new world. Technology was advancing. You are at the center of it all!"

He's delusional. He's gone off the deep end. The more he talks the more dangerous he becomes. "I sent them after you knowing that you could handle them. You need to know that they exist and that they are out there. They've succeeded in killing some of your previous lives before they were able to leave behind notes for you. There is information that has been lost. With them gone, you can learn even more and leave more behind for the next in your line."

"Phinnis…"

"Please, listen. They should be stopped and you are the one to do it. You can do it, You've already started. The people here will support you in any actions and my people… My people will be able to help."

"Phinnis, I don't like this."

"We can do anything."

"Phinnis! Stop!"

My voice booms bringing him into stunned silence. I refuse to let him go on. I refuse to let him try and twist this into a good thing. "I never asked for this power. I never asked to be put into this situation. Since it is my power, I get to choose what to do with it and I do not want to use it for destruction. I don't want to use it to take lives."

"It's inevitable. It's already happened and it will continue to happen."

"That's not what I want!"

"But that's what you do!"

He stopped forward grabbing onto my shirt, "You are destruction incarnate." His eyes have a crazy look to them. "You can do anything. I will help you do anything."

"I don't want this!"

"But you need this!"

"You need to go away!"

I shove him back with force. I can feel the air around us shift. He looks uneasy as he steps backward. The grin on his face never faded. "You don't even need to focus and your power shows itself." His eyes start to turn red as his breathing becomes heavy. "My job is complete. With my death, you are the monster you are supposed to be. Engraved in stone, you are legend." He let out a wheezed chuckle as he struggled to stand. His eyes were locked on to me as best as he could as his legs began to give. He tried to hold himself up with his desk. His arms had lost their strength letting him fall to the floor.

I left him laying there against his desk with that smile on his face. His breathing had stopped as it was clear that the damage that was done to him was internal. No matter how unintentional it was, he was gone. Just another name added to the list of lives I had taken. The book's warning only became more clear. His intention was to create a monster. And he may have just succeeded.