Clyde's Real Identity

As soon as Orion walked into the hut made of straw, mud, and wood, he ducked right under the left side of the door frame and barely dodged a swinging knife right for his throat.

Orion defused the attack and plunged the knife into the chest of a young adult girl. She gasped in shock and fell to the floor, before hitting her head and slowly letting go of a breath she was holding on into her chest.

"Clyde, something bothered me about your explanation about such a famous character," Orion said.

He kicked the hinges of the door and broke it, causing it to jam inside the flimsy door frame. I unsheathed my axe and held it close to my chest, waiting to block anything that came for me.

"A master of deception? That's not subtle at all, is it, Genesis Asterio?" Orion casually said.

I looked at him in confusion and then turned to Clyde with an even more confused face.

"I figured once you got my scent, you would never let go of it. What do you think of your second chance at life?" Clyde, or Genesis, asked Orion.

"This second chance at life? I deserve to be dead right now. Sky beat me fair and square, yet it was Nova and you who brought me back because you couldn't handle not knowing about him, wasn't it?" Orion asked Genesis.

A big reveal occurred when Genesis tapped onto his left hand, summoning a White Stone that was reminiscent of Sky. Once he tapped on the stone, his flesh seemed to melt from Clyde's disguise and revealed a young man with short brown hair and piercing red eyes, almost like Illya's.

"So, you want to lose to me inside of a grass hut? That doesn't seem like the final battle I thought it would be. However, I have no problem killing an Asterio such as yourself," Orion said.

He took a swing at Genesis and kicked him in the leg... or so I thought.

Genesis blocked the swing and pushed away his foot before hitting Orion in the neck with a simple extension of his hand.

Orion immediately fell unconscious onto Genesis, to which he slowly let him hit the floor while carrying him downward.

"Now that he's done and the people are waiting outside of that door for my mark, do you have any questions for me, Charlie?" Genesis asked, refocusing his eyesight back onto me.

It was a millisecond, and no slower, that I saw a glimpse of blue eyes hidden behind his blood-red irises.

"I could think of millions... why were you so sloppy in leading me here?" I asked first.

"Doesn't matter, Orion had my scent and would follow me anywhere. He's selfish like that. That's not something his White Stone gave him, that's something embedded into his personality," Genesis admitted, placing his foot lightly onto his back.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at Genesis as a whole new set of questions entered my brain.

"Sky Asterio... that's my leader... he corrupt his stone in order to protect us and went through hell and back. I'm alive because of him... but I've always wondered something... why? Why did he have to be Corrupt? What is Corruption? Why did the Stone turn red, of all colors?" I asked Genesis.

"Woah, slow down there kiddo. I can't answer forty questions a second. I should admit to you that I have no idea why it was Red, but I do know that the color Red is only present in Asterios, and Corrupt White Stones. Hence my red eyes. How about you answer a question for me, Charlie?" Genesis asked me, sitting down.

There wasn't any chair or ledge to sit on, but it was like Genesis sat down in the air and it kept him up.

"Um... okay," I agreed, and Genesis gestured for me to sit down in the air as well. I did and felt myself floating for some reason.

"Why do you still follow a man like him, knowing his past? Are you that indebted to him?" Genesis asked me.

"That's my friend... no, my family. Would you abandon your family that easily? I owe Sky my life, and the lives of the rest of our family. I hope to become strong enough to be his right-hand man one day," I told Genesis.

I let my guard down around Genesis. We weren't hiding anything, and if he could take out Orion, then I would be light-work for him.

"Would I abandon my family that easily?! Hah! Kiddo, does the name Illya Asterio ring a bell for you?" He asked me.

"Illya... The Deity? With the white hair and red eyes?" I asked him with a stupid tone.

"No, that would be The Former Deity with brown hair and blue eyes, just like Sky. She's lost her status, and I know you were there to see her," Genesis told me, leaning in to get closer to my face.

"Unfortunately, I have no idea what you're talking about. I think Illya died on The Charred Isle," I told Genesis, matching his lean forward and getting even closer to his face.

"I was raised in a family of liars. Both my sister and brother are liars that are way too good at their jobs. They hide their knowledge, attempting to keep it from me. I'll let you in on a secret, Charlie. I know everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything. Your past personality, your past life, and even your last name. Doesn't that sound like appealing information you would like? All you have to do is tell me one thing," Genesis said, taking a deep breath.

"Where is Avie Asterio?" He asked me.

With every formidable muscle in my body, I kept it locked down. I didn't let my eyes falter, I didn't smile, I didn't frown, I didn't move.

Telling him where Avie was would produce something much more sinister than Genesis's conversation with me here.