Exodia 71: White Emperor

"Yo."

Someone said to me.

I was in a black space similar to the space where I met the Black Emperor, Altair. Speaking of which, we've been in and out of communication every now and then.

It was a woman. She sat on the black throne. Her legs were crossed and her fist was stuck against her cheek. She looked... bored.

She had pink hair. It looked to be the same length as Anastasia's. (Anastasia's hair goes down to her waist.) Her eyes were pink but they were a lighter tone compared to her hair. She wore a suit with a coat over it.

I could barely see it, but, on her neck was some sort of pink tattoo.

The woman got out of the chair and walked toward me.

I'm sure this is my mind so... how is she here?

"I wonder how long it's been since we last saw each other, Altair?"

She said, looking me in the eye.

Oh...

She thinks I'm the original Black Emperor. Ah, if she knows the Black Emperor's real name then she must also be an...

"Who are you?"

I asked.

The woman made a perplexed face.

"Perhaps... You don't remember me? Or you haven't regained your memories. Or..."

A creepy smirk appeared on her face.

"Altair hasn't awakened yet."

Well, I mean, you're partially right. He isn't awake right now. I think it has something to do with his ruined power or something.

"Tell me, Vessel, what's your name?"

"Shoya Sasaki."

"Shoya Sasaki, hm..."

"Nhm!"

I made a weird noise as she got closer and began touching my body through the hoodie I was wearing.

(For some reason, I was always in a hoodie when I entered my mind.)

I felt small tinges of pleasure as she touched my body.

"Your body is well-toned. Not as good as Altair's body but it is nice."

The woman backed away.

"Well, I told you my name, so who are you?"

"I'm Aden-Lada, formerly Rose, I'm the Mortal Sin of Gluttony and the former Pink Emperor though I have no successor, so I guess I'm still the Pink Emperor."

A Mortal Sin and an Emperor...

Well, let's see. Aden-Lada can't attack me in my mind. At least, I think. If she could, I guess I'd be dead right now. Or, maybe she just wanted to chat with Altair.

"You seem like you have a question."

Aden-Lada said, looking at me, indifferently.

"Yeah, I do."

"Then ask away. I can't kill you here so don't worry."

Seems like my observation was right.

"Why did you all betray Altair?"

Kuro told me some things but she didn't know too much. She didn't even know how she knew but yeah... What they teach us in World History is definitely twisted. I bet the teachers don't even know it themselves.

"Oh, if that's it, then I can tell you."

Aden-Lada is surprisingly... better than what I thought she'd be. Or, at least different from the images of Emperors I already had in my mind.

"You know, out of all 9 of us Emperors, Altair was the kindest Emperor. He cared about life more than all of us. In the Paladin War against Solomon, Altair and his faction didn't kill a single person."

In a war?

I mean, people die in a war, I'm sure some people killed soldiers from his side and he didn't kill a single person...

Even I would kill people in something like a war.

Who's this 'Solomon?'

"It was the same in the Emperor War, where all nine of us fought against each other. Though, in that war, the Green Emperor's faction was nearly deleted by Altair."

"W-what? D-deleted? What's with the change in attitude?!"

"Well... Re--The Green Emperor did kill the one he loved so..."

"Yeah, yeah, that's nice and sad but tell me why you decided to betray Altair."

God, that sounded so direct. I sounded like I didn't care but I just didn't want to hear the rest of that story.

"The main reason was..."

[Regulus.]

I turned around.

I saw myself walking toward the two of us. It wasn't me, of course, but Altair, the Black Emperor. He was dressed in the same black clothes the last time I saw him. Though, this time, he had blue eyes.

Ai-nee said that I had blue eyes when my strength suddenly skyrocketed in that arm wrestling match we had. I guess it was from him.

"Regulus, who's that?"

I asked.

"The White Emperor and Altair's twin."

Aden-Lada said, not shaken by his appearance.

[I was the last one to become an Emperor. Everyone else had their Singularities and powers. I trained for it, I guess. It was during the Emperor's War when I awakened Black Exodia.]

"Okay, but what does that have to do with your twin brother, the White Emperor?"

"Altair has Black Exodia which can negate all Singularities while Regulus has White Exodia which can steal Singularities. Regulus was jealous of his twin brother and wanted to steal his Singularity. One of the other Emperors warned us and we held a meeting."

"To kill Altair..."

I trailed off.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Vessel. Altair complied. He didn't mind it all."

I looked at Altair and he nodded.

"Wait, so you just killed him?"

"Yup. It was to keep balance in the world."

"What about his reincarnations? You killed them too to keep balance in the world?"

I retorted, kind of annoyed.

"Yup. Regulus also reincarnated but we don't know who he is exactly."

[I do.]

Altair said all of a sudden.

He looked slightly worried.

"Oh... Really now? We weren't able to find him at all. He was stealthy and knew how to hide his tracks. Since we can't trace his Singularity as we can with you, Altair."

The pink-haired woman looked at Altair.

"So, who is he?"

[He's... the principal of Altheria Academy, Japan Branch..]

When I heard that, I thought about his actions.

Why he put me up against Qin. Why he acted like he cared but didn't stop me when I used my Singularity on Akane. Why he accepted me into his school.

It was all because he's--

[Weissmann Mori.]

--the White Emperor.