Revelations (1)

Chapter 150 : Revelations (1)

The return to Mystic Tower chapel was largely uneventful. Aside from Dealla's current mood, everyone was in high spirits. It was natural, after all they'd managed to avoid a brush with death. For adventurers death was no stranger, after all, in order to be reborn in the world of Adventia they had to die at least once. Still, none were in a mood to hasten their reunion with the deep darkness, so they felt especially blessed.

Especially those who had a closer idea of the truth.

"Are you awake now?" Agni asked. For Shula, the one unconscious, everything seemed out of focus.

"Don't scream. My head hurts." The imp remarked as she sat up.

"No one's screaming. Apparently you passed out from your injuries and Oliver found you." Agni said, rather impatiently as she cut her eyes towards her familiar.

"Is that what happened? I...I don't remember." Shula said as she pressed her palm against her temple. There was a lingering pain there, one that grew smaller and less intense by the second. Soon it was gone and along with it, any hope of what actually transpired.

"Yea. Be careful. If you need to rest, you know what to do." Agni said as she patted Shula on the head then pointed towards the fiery gem centered in her choker.

"Pfft." Shula got to her feet, rolling her eyes as she did so. "I'm fine. Worry about yourself. You were the one who woke up half dead 'umm gunna dieeeeeeeeee'." Shula mocked.

Agni gripped her tail viciously and jerked her closer.

"You've been getting beside yourself lately. Washboard princess." Agni gritted her teeth as she placed Shula into a headlock and pretended to gnaw on her forehead.

Everyone nearby chuckled to themselves, or simply looked on , unsure what to make of the situation.

Meanwhile the leaders of the expedition quietly parted ways with everyone involved. They made sure to hand out rewards and reclaim the protective smocks before making their way toward Vivian Lex's office.

After a few moments of silence Oliver was the first to speak.

"Well? Are you going to explain what's actually going on here?" Bracha was also in the room, though she seemed less interested. This alone was enough to annoy Oliver. He simply didn't like the idea that someone he'd misjudged as useless had more insider information than he possessed.

"Oliver sit down. You're always so high strung. It's...taxing." Vivian said as she took a seat behind her desk and reached into a nearby drawer. She produced a strangely shaped bottle which resembled perfume more than alcohol and proceeded to pour herself a drink.

Bracha immediately took a seat in front of the desk, which in turn prompted Oliver to do the same. His thinking was far different than the Runemasters to be sure -- he simply didn't want to be outdone. Bracha on the other hand - alcohol was her favorite pastime….

"Where do I even begin?" Vivian asked as she took a sip after pouring a cup for each of her guests.

"You can start by--"

"It was rhetorical, Oliver." Vivian interrupted with a sigh.

"What do you know of the creation of this world? Adventia I mean." Vivian asked.

"What does that have to do with what happened?" Oliver asked, despite his impatience he took a sip of the aromatic drink before him. The flavor leaned heavily towards something which tasted rich and flavorful like pomegranate, yet there were slight floral undernotes. The alcohol content was also quite high. The bridge of Oliver's nose wrinkled up as he struggled to ingest the bitter bite of spirits lingering in his mouth.

Bracha on the other hand was already a fourth of the way through her cup.

"I don't know much. Who does really? After all it's not like this is our original world." Oliver finally replied as he sat his cup down. The alcohol content completely distracted him from the desperate desire for knowledge.

Vivian seemed to be debating something internally, she swished around the reddish liquid within her cup before finally taking several deeper sips. Suddenly Oliver felt like a lightweight.

"It's not like the knowledge is hidden or anything. But I suppose that's the kind of creatures that adventurers are. We don't really concern ourselves with anything outside our own desires. There's various theories about how we came to be, our nature and all sorts of theology surrounding this world.

For example -- why are guilds called 'Chapels'? In this world Beastmen, Demons and Humans co exist, magic is freely used and death is but an inconvenience under the right circumstances. Who made this giant playground that we muck about in?" Vivian continued speaking, levying several weighty questions towards Oliver in the process.

"No one knows. And if they do, they aren't telling." Oliver responded. At this point Vivian laughed, which seemed inappropriate to the elf, yet for Bracha the irony was not lost.

"Do you believe that God exists?" Vivian next asked.

"I'm probably the wrong person to ask about this. I'm more prone to believe that spirits and eldritch creatures exist before I look to the heavens for signs." Oliver answered honestly. Vivian figured the straight laced Archmage would say something along those lines, so it didn't surprise her in the least.

"I met God today." Vivian said suddenly.

"Hey, Vivian--" Bracha began to object, to the point that she nearly slammed her drink down on the table.

"It's fine. I have permission to share my knowledge with only one other person. Do you understand Oliver? I'm choosing you." Vivian poured Bracha more from the bottle and topped off her drink before continuing.

"Is this some kind of joke? God? Where did you meet him exactly?" Oliver asked. Though his voice was full of condescension, he leaned forward in his chair ever so slightly.

"Remember the end of the battle inside the shard realm? That blinding red light? It was an explosion that was apparently designed to destroy things in a very particular way. Not just destruction but also to render everything to null." Vivian said.

"Huh? What does that even mean? Render everything to null?" Oliver asked. He could feel his heart fluttering a bit more, for it was simply his nature. The very idea of magical phenomena that was unknown to him was enough to get him excited.

"As it sounds. There is life, there is death and there is what lies between. Most people think the world is made up of two states. Light and dark, water and fire -- the opposites are endless. However, what is the opposite of 'existence'? I'm only using the terms explained to me--but basically that explosion was the absence of existence. Void. Negative. Null. I suppose all of these names describe it accurately."

"If that's the case..how did we survive? Wait, don't tell me. This 'God' saved us?" Oliver's mind was now whirring into overdrive. He tried to wrap his brain around the concept of a deep lack of existence. It seemed near endless when he considered the possibilities.

*Like a black hole. Only..so much more.* He thought to himself.

Vivian nodded her head in response to his earlier question and took another drink.

"When that Fused Grimlock was killed, we tried to destroy the core. Normally doing so would have collapsed the shard realm and allowed us to return to Adventia. However, those cores were apparently tampered with. The result was that explosion."

"Tampered with? By who? To what end?" Oliver asked.

Vivian shook her head, she had no answer to offer and apparently neither did Bracha.

"After the explosion was contained, we woke up near the village of Gardenia. This was confirmed by the village inhabitants. They told me that a man in a green hood brought us there and asked that we be taken care of. They said he then disappeared."

"Wait.. you mean that guy we met ? The one that kidnapped the mouthy imp? No way. There's nothing God-like about him at all, whatsoever." Oliver found the thought so humorous that he nearly wasted his drink.

"That's rude, don't you think Oliver Pagnal?" This time Oliver did waste his drink, all over his lap.

"W-where the hell did you come from?" Oliver asked as he spun about in his chair to face the voice behind him.

"Unimportant, right Vivian?" The dark skinned man said as he offered a smile. He simply stood near the door, his hands crossed behind his back as he glanced from face to face.

"I thought maybe you'd have some trouble explaining things properly. So I decided to help out a bit. I'm done with all of my hunting today, after all." He said as he walked towards Vivian's desk. For the first time he removed his hood, showing more of his features. He was surprisingly young beneath the cloth. His hair was short and well groomed, with a hair texture to match his ebony features. His teeth were pearly white and his eyes were amber in color. Truthfully it reminded Bracha of Agni's eyes each time she saw them.

His body was slender, and his height was slightly above average, putting him at 183 cm or so (6'0).

"No need to get up, Bracha. I won't be staying long. Besides I can make myself comfortable here." He said this upon noticing Bracha's attempt to offer her seat. Instead he made himself comfortable by sitting on the corner of Vivian's desk, closest to the Runemaster.

"I guess I should explain a bit further." He said as he folded his arms and made himself more comfortable before launching into his explanation.