Him

"Gloria, please pull out my bag." Serric asked.

Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen the big bag Serric had brought out of the cottage with him ever since we started running. The reason why became apparent quite quickly.

Gloria reached her hand into the air in front of her, as quivering fractures appeared in the air, and from the disturbance, she pulled out his bag. It was a portal of some sort, clearly.

Serric rummaged through the bag, pulling out "Assorted Poetry of Reverie" and a large black sphere, identical to the one he showed us in his underground room, but far smaller in scale.

"Asher. From the moment you set foot in my house, I could see there was something abnormal about you. My suspicions were all but confirmed when you told me what your aspect is."

"Huh? What's so special about it? I mean, yeah, the name sounds pretty  cool, but it hasn't done anything for me so far."

"I don't know what it might do, Asher. Only you know. Deep down, you know what it does. Because it is you. What I do know, though, is that it's something incredible. You have a great destiny ahead of you, Asher. You too, Rowan. I'm giving you this prophesy in the hope it will shed some light on the path ahead of you. Among the abilities I've developed with my aspect, prophesies were the toughest to get a hang of, but I'm confident I can give a good one. I've fulfilled all the conditions, so I'm going to-"

"Sup. Sorry, but I'm gonna have to put a stop to that. No hard feelings though."

A voice said.

Standing in front of us was a young man wearing an orange suit and a wide, crooked smile.

If you asked me when he appeared there, I wouldn't know what to tell you. I don't remember him ever materializing out of thin air, but he was certainly not here when we arrived.

In other words, he wasn't normal. He wasn't right. He was off.

"Who are you and how did you get up here?" The Curate asked sharply.

"Don't remember your pops? You'll make an old man cry. Well, I suppose you wouldn't know me, so whatever. I didn't come for you anyways, so just sit back and let the important people talk. Byebye!"

And then, the Curate was gone, in a manner just as incomprehensible as the strange man's arrival.

"GLORIA! GET US OUT AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!" Serric shouted.

"Oh no you don't."

Gloria was nowhere to be found.

That is, she had vanished as well.

"Now that I think about it, I don't need you either, do I? Ciao."

"Wh-"

Serric was gone.

I stared at this man, wordless. I couldn't even understand what was happening. I could feel my breathing getting faster. My heart speeding up.

"The fuck did you just do?"

The look on Rowan's face was beyond terrifying. I thought this morning was intimidating, but that was truly nothing. Right now she could kill with a glare.

She had drawn her sword. She had been using future energy to stand ever since she got out of the lake, and if there was no limit to how far she could pull from, I knew she might well blow through a whole week's energy, or even more, trying to take this guy out.

"Ha, you seem mad. Don't worry, I didn't do anything. Other than, you know, killing them. No big problem though, right? You seem like the forgiving sort. Will you forgive me? They can't have been all that important. They were nobodies in the grand scheme of things, after all."

Rowan was speechless. For roughly two seconds, she stared, silent.

"You're better off fucking dead."

I could see that Rowan was about to launch an attack. This was just like back at the cottage. But there was one key difference. Our opponent, this time, was that difference.

"What's wrong? Just calm down, girl. What have I done to you? Nothing, that's what. So what's all the fuss about? I think you may need a short time-out."

Rowan, and her heaven-shaking bloodlust, both disappeared.

"Excellent. One to one conversation is truly the most satisfying, is it not? Would you like some tea?"

I had no answer. I was still running back through the events that just occurred in my mind.

"You interest me a lot, kid. Ever since my first agent got taken down, I could tell there was something cool going on in this group. You see, my Radical that the angry girl killed, his aspect was "Light that casts away the darkness." Light isn't something they can be destroyed so easily, kid. Light is tough to truly extinguish. He shouldn't have died so easy. So I was left wondering how you did it. I already know Serric and Gloria, and their abilities, but I don't know the aspect of you or the girl, so which one of you killed him? It happened so fast he couldn't even mentally transmit anything to me before he died. An absolute wash, huh. Guess he was no more than an idiot. Useless, and better off dead. Oh my, I've gotten a bit off track, whoops. Nice to meet you. I'm God. Or so I'd like to say. To the people of this world, perhaps I am a god. Or the devil. But I'm just like you, actually. You can call me the Architect."

"What did you do with them?"

"So boring, kid. So boring. So caught up in the past. Ugh you truly want to know... Ha, you thought I would tell you? Answer my question, come on. How did you kill the Radical this morning? What are your abilities? Come on, tell me. I'm good at keeping secrets, you know."

This man is unbelievable.

This was my first coherent thought upon breaking out of my shock.

"I'm not telling you. Kill yourself, asshole."

"Oh fine. Jane!"

A small red marble flew out of his pocket.

"Yo master! What can I do for you today? Are you in need of a massage from these sexy hands?"

"Even if I were, you wouldn't be able to give me one, you clown. Tell me this kid's aspect and magical talents."

"Yessir! Magical talents are as follows: Water Magic, level 3. Growth rate and potential are deity class. Fire magic, level 0. No potential. Matter magic, level 0. No potential. Air magic, level 0. Potential is deity class. Conceptual magic talents are varied. Concise answer cannot be given. Aspect is-

"Jane? Hello? What's his aspect?"

"Analysis impossible. Aspect is incomprehensible. Would you like me to repeat the scan?"

For just a moment, unease flickered on the Architect's face. Then it was gone.

"Cool. No need for a repeat, Jane. Try it on this girl."

And then, Rowan was back.

She swiveled around until she saw the Architect.

"You fucking-"

"Whoah, hold on there babe. I was joking earlier. Everyone is fine. Wanna just cooperate now? Who knows, maybe we can become friends. Are we chill?"

Rowan stared fiercly at the man for several seconds before calming down slightly, seeing that I was still fine.

"The hell does this bastard want?" She whispered.

"Don't ask me."

The marble, meanwhile, was delivering its obnoxiously enthusiastic verdict.

"Magical talents all unreadable. Magic is currently being blocked. Aspect is "Render of Karma.""

"Sounds pretty cool. What does it do, girl?"

"Why the hell should I tell you?"

"I'll kill this kid and your parents."

Rowan's eyes shone with immense anger. I could see it was taking everything she had to restrain herself.

"I can use energy from future me in the present."

"That can't be it. I'm sure you can do way more. Do a little training. Maybe you'll unlock some new abilities."

"Why are you here?" I asked coldly.

"Just having some fun. What else would I be doing?"

"So why did you stop Serric's prophesy?"

"Because prophesies are troublesome, and this one involved two dangerous unknown variables- you two. Of course, I like some danger, but I like chaotic danger, not obnoxious prophesies that define our future for us. Why would anyone want a prophesy anyways? It's like a limiter on your fate. As if we didn't already have enough. That's why I do whatever I want, whenever I want. That way, fate is my bitch. And it's great. Nothing makes you feel freer. I bet you get what I'm saying, girl."

"I think you can take your fate and shove it up your-"

"Ah getting feisty again, are we. If you don't calm down, I'm putting you in time out again."

I could tell Rowan could barely contain her desire to kick this guy's ass, but we both realized at this point that he was not an opponent we could handle.

"Anyways, I was just planning on leaving. Hope you guys had as much fun as I did in this meeting. Ooh, how about I give you a little prophesy of my own? You will, with certainty, meet me at the Final Doorway in a month. If you don't, I'll kill everyone you know. I already killed Serric, by the way, so everyone beside him, I suppose. Serric used to serve me, by the way. I'm the leader of the Radicals. Have fun knowing that. Adios!"

And then, he vanished, as quick as he came, leading us both silent.