Chapter 124 Shattered Mirrors and Shifting Fates
Conversation after that began to flow slowly again into more comfortable territory. John found himself laughing and often sharing stories of how things where before the change well asking questions with genuine interest towards the other. The initial awe he felt for these powerful beings faded replaced by a comforting warmth of acceptance, none pressed him on how he got into the admin area but still seemed to look at him with greater interest. This feeling of belonging was a treasure far more valuable than any status, it was different than what he had with his own group, it felt far more natural in a strange but good way. Here immense power and staggering wealth no longer mattered he simply felt accepted and for the first time in an age he was truly having fun.
An hour dissolved into comfortable camaraderie as they got to know him better and vice versa. Plates cleared drinks refilled and laughter echoed around the table. Thoris soon produced a small ornate bottle placing it firmly on the table. His expression growing serious, a sharp shift from the earlier mirth. "Listen closely lad I got some pointers fer ya. Rule ya own domain, keep yer council tight but remember yer the one who lead's not em. Allies are always good but ya hold the reins at the end o the day and should have final say in all yer matters. Then if ya build a harem, make sure they respect each other, give each o them the love and respect they need and deserve twice that they give ya. One bad apple spoils the bunch ya hear? Lastly grow strong. A leader ain't just words or clever plans. Power backs up authority no matter what ya may be told. That's how Grog runs his world without being sharp. Plenty there can talk better n even think better but Grog makes em listen through his actions and being true to his goals and self. So be the boss, the undisputed ruler of everything under ya, listen to others but never let them dictate yer actions."
"Me not smart" Grog rumbled "but me strong. Me make them listen. Look out for them" He nodded emphatically a broad smile spreading across his face.
Thoris gestured to the bottle. "This here it'll reset your body. Fatten you up ya? But more than that. It'll remold you to match your soul, resembling ya true self. Turns ya inside out with a full physical rebirth of sorts and makes ya body more moldable ta match yer soul." John took the bottle a small vial of swirling luminescent liquid. It felt cool against his palm pulsing with a faint almost imperceptible energy. He stared at its iridescent depths. "Like the potion in Balto the Magnificent" he mused a faint smile touching his lips as he remembered that underrated masterpiece. "It was a movie I watched when I was young, about a bat overcoming fear and filled with good life lessons, I loved that movie when I was a kid. I understand the principle though. Its something powerful and dangerous at the same time, it makes you take the form of who and what you truly are inside." He paused his gaze moving from the potion to Thoris. "Should I drink it now or wait until I'm home?"
"Definitely at home" Arwin advised a slight grin playing on his lips. "Drinking it here could have serious negative effects. The energies in this place differ drastically from your world. Plus, you're only a projection here and not entirely physical. That kind of combination would be utterly disastrous and well it could be interesting to see what happens I would prefer it not happen to our newest member."
John carefully tucked the potion away a slight tremor in his hand. He still had so much to learn and so much to prepare for. "Before I go. Before I start shopping for supplies for my two friends. Before I even think about preparing for a coming war. I need to ask something important." He swallowed his nervousness the comfortable atmosphere suddenly feeling fragile. "How knowledgeable is everyone here? I mean Oleg is formidable. He and Sweetbell managed to pluck a god's fragment right out of me when I didn't even know it was there. But what about the rest of you?"
"Other than Grog" Squib declared puffing out his chest with mock indignation "I'd bet we're pretty damn good." His tone was playful yet held a clear note of pride.
John slowly nodded before seemingly resolving himself with a deep shaky breath. He reached into his jacket and pulled out two objects. First was the dagger its blade having turned dark and impossibly sharp well in this place and seemed to absorb the light around it, the same one he had given to Z to appraise only to have it returned with a warning. The hilt now seemed to be wrapped in ancient worn leather, there was no feel from it, the blade and hilt seemingly only for decoration and being nothing special. Next, he presented a flawless blue gemstone that pulsed with a faint internal glow. The air in the room palpably shifted. The light from the gem cast an ethereal azure sheen across the table. The same gem he got thanks to Lesh to trap the fragment who took Alice's appearance, the only problem being how it seemed different now compared to when he first got it, the colors more vibrant and the feel having changed to something else compared to what it originally was. Everyone's gaze except Oleg instantly locked onto it and ignored the dagger entirely.
"Name a price!" Arwin practically roared his jovial demeanor replaced by an intense predatory focus as he leaned forward, his eyes wide with desire.
"I'll double whatever the daft knife ear offers!" Thoris countered instantly his voice a low growl of absolute determination. He slammed a fist on the table. "My claim is stronger!"
Squib leaned even further forward eyes wide with dawning realization. "You don't know what you have there do you?" he asked disbelief coloring his tone. He looked from John to the gem back to him.
Oleg however stared fixedly at the dagger. Its dark blade seemed to hold a dark allure for him. "No, I think he does and just wanted us to confirm it." Oleg corrected his voice surprisingly calm despite the commotion. "But I didn't expect him to trap a fragment on his own or even encounter another so soon. Or have something as fascinating as this." He reached out a hand almost touching the dagger but stopped himself with a slight flinch.
Thoris usually booming voice dropped to a low earnest rumble. "Throw out any number my friend I'll pay it. I truly want dat gem." His seriousness was absolute leaving no room for doubt.
"Is it possible to see the god's true appearance from it?" John asked his voice tight with suppressed anxiety. He ignored the bidding war the monetary value suddenly insignificant. "From that fragment I mean. I, It's a bit different than how it was when I first got it, something about it is really bothering me. My decision to sell it or not depends entirely on what I see and what changes might have happened to it. I don't want to sell it and then whoever buys It becomes cursed or worse."
Oleg finally tore his gaze from the dagger as he turned to John. His eyes narrowed as a seriousness set over his features. "This isn't like the last time, is it? This fragment has a deeper connection to you a more intimate bond that they tried to exploit and now you want to see if there was more to what it tried to do than you saw."
John clenched his fist tightly, knuckles turning white. "Just, please." He began, trying to keep his tone steady. "The girl I started caring for was used to hurt when I got this gem. Used by whatever god this fragment is linked to or was linked to? I don't really know. All I do know is it wasn't her own god actions and I need to know a clear answer to my troubles weather it was done using her spirit or if it was just an illusion to try and get to me using what it knew would cause the most pain." His plea was raw and desperate revealing a depth of personal pain that silenced the room.
Oleg studied John for another long moment before he looked at the others, a silent agreement passed between them before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small hand mirror. It looked utterly ordinary in his large hand, its silver frame slightly tarnished. He gently placed the blue gemstone onto its handle where it slowly pulsed with an unnervingly soft blue light. The mirror's surface slowly shimmered before an image slowly came into existence.
Oleg's voice broke the sudden heavy silence. It was low barely above a whisper. "My friend what exactly have you managed to catch in this gem?" His tone was unlike anything they had heard from him before. It was tense laced with an unmistakable undercurrent of interest and fear. This alone startled everyone as they looked from the large figure to the mirror itself before seemingly recoiling by pure instinct, a collective gasp escaping their lips soon after.
John stared at the image that was forming, fighting down the powerful urge both to snatch the gem away to stop this and to recoil in horror as he felt his blood run cold at the sight in front of him. On the mirror was Alice. Yet she was wrong. Her smile stretched far too wide, a grotesque parody of joy well bright red bloodstains blotched her dress that was no longer blue and white but a deep black and red. She seemed to be playing with a pulpy mass with a bored look in her eyes, those same eyes though where among the biggest changes and what sent a shiver down his spine, they seemed to glow a piercing bright yellow. The pupils were multiple layered slits making a strange kind of star and clearly not human. Her gaze soon turned from the pulp in her hand to them, dropping it to who knows where as her focus locked onto them, seemingly staring directly through the mirror and chilling everyone to the bone as she gave a small wave before locking her focus onto him and blowing a kiss, her smile growing even wider with a fang filled mouth. Each of them felt as if she was looking into their very souls as it once more began to look each of them over with interest.
The air in the chamber crackled with an unsettling energy, a reflection of John's own spiraling thoughts. He stared into the polished surface of the mirror, its silver depths showing a familiar face yet he couldn't deny how wrong it seemed. "Alice" he murmured his voice barely a whisper "Is this really what's captured in that gem? Is it really some kind of twister version of her or just that fragment trying to screw with me even more now?"
As if hearing his doubt Alice's mirrored image tilted her head to the side and pouted before once more locking her eyes with his, a strange glint in their depths. A smile once more blossomed on her lips but slightly softer this time, not quite an expression of joy but it did have hints of happiness layered with a predatory baring along with it. Then she blew another kiss before mouthing 'I'm coming for you' followed by another small wave. The mirror promptly went blank moments after that, its surface abruptly losing all glow. At the same instant Oleg's trembling finger fumbled as he knocked the gem off the small mirror. It bounced once on the stone floor before lying still but now stained with faint hints of sickly yellow.
Oleg stared at the inert gem then at John his face pale with something akin to existential dread. "I don't know what that was John but it was no god fragment or even a minor god that you had trapped," he stammered his voice thin with fear. "That ball in its hand was certainly a god's fragment that had been tormented into nothing but a formless mass of flesh but that thing that did it definitely wasn't anything of the sort. I, I don't know what that was my friend but it honestly scared me which is no small feat. What in the name of the realms did you capture? No." He continued, gaze falling onto the gem laying on the ground before returning to him. "Is that thing even captured at all?" The others in the room now fixed their gaze on John their expressions a mix of confusion and mounting terror yet unable to hold back their own interest. The silence at the table grew heavy with unspoken questions.
John swallowed hard his throat suddenly dry. The memory of Alice raw and painful flickered behind his eyes. "I don't know" he admitted. "I mean it looked like the girl I was falling for but different. She was human like me before I had to kill her to end her pain. Another person used their ability to start turning her into a wax puppet and I still question even now if it was a scheme by one of those gods." The words were a stark confession revealing a deep personal trauma he rarely spoke of yet he told them every detail, from how he found her in such a state to when he laid her to rest. His gaze on the now-blank mirror a haunted look in his eyes.
Arwin scoffed as a shiver ran down his spine as he slammed his hands onto the table. "Bullshit! There is no way that that thing was ever a human! That hunger? I can't even begin to explain it. That thing shouldn't be something that exists or be called anything remotely human!" His voice held a profound revulsion, a primal instinct screaming from deep within about the unnaturalness of that thing. He had witnessed many horrors in his life but this presence felt distinctly alien to him, manage to chill him to the core.
"How rude" a very familiar voice suddenly purred from thin air drawing their attention back to the mirror. It had somehow righted itself well their focus was on John, now standing upright on the table and facing them, turning slightly on its own to meet each of their gazes before she looked at John again, her lips twisted into a pout but her eyes sparkled with clear amusement. "Tell them to stop saying mean things John or do you also think I'm some kind of monster?" Her voice though melodious carried an undercurrent of something ancient and powerful yet he noticed the ever so slight hint of fear that he would agree with them, her eyes well sharp and predatory seemed to almost be begging him to defend her.
Oleg gawked his mouth agape. His carefully constructed understanding of reality shattering. "How? This is impossible!" he exclaimed his voice rising in pitch. "That mirror shows what's trapped in an object. It has no way to share sound let alone act as a communication device! This isn't something that should be possible or able to happen!" His gaze darted frantically between John and the unsettling reflection of Alice. His scholarly mind reeled at the blatant defiance of known magical principles as he tried to make sense of this.
Alice rolled her eyes a gesture everyone in the room somehow felt despite her being a mere reflection. "Oh suck it up you big baby" she said her tone dismissive. "It's easier to do than you think, all you do is slightly change the energetic vibrations in the air to generate the correct auditable frequency to create the words your hearing and when you change bits of the core principles of the magic used on the mirror it's easy to make it a way to see both ways but I'll be honest. My only interest here is my rock teddy who I hope becomes cuddly again soon." Her gaze returned to John a possessive glint now undeniable.
John's own voice was a soft whisper filled with a mix of dread and longing. "But how... you're dead. I killed you..." The weight of that memory still crushed him a constant burden.
Seeing no fear of her but rather guilt and pain of his actions her gaze softened slightly. "I got better, and I'm… glad? Yes, glad that you still hold such feelings towards me." was her reply followed by a burst of chilling laughter that echoed across the table. It was a sound devoid of human warmth full of something ancient and mocking. "But in all seriousness though a girl needs to keep some secrets. But just know I am still watching and I expect you to get really really fucken strong and surprise me when we do properly meet again in person. Oh and you need to put on some weight damn it! I want my cuddly teddy back when I get you back not a bag of rocks! Hmm? And just a heads up you're trending and drawing a lot of attention now, you probably already knew that though but its spreading and a lot of things are interested in what your gonna do, not just those false gods anymore either, there's even a whole range of bets going on as well now and things are stirring that haven't moved since before time existed! It's not good but the really big and troublesome gods haven't noticed or given a damn yet, most to focused on their own matters and only the bottom wastes give a damn right now but you need to get strong before the stronger ones start to turn their gaze on you and try to either kill or kidnap you for themselves! I won't accept that happening John!" She practically snarled, her gaze holding enough anger that everyone almost felt like they were being burnt by it before her smile returned, once more predatory and far too wide. "Also, Ash is the only one I approve you being with besides me, maybe Saya but no one else yet you hear me! Even if that cow tits is annoying she can pull her weight and I can trust her, ghost girl as well. But I will kick your ass if you don't listen and let any other whores near you!" Her final words were delivered with a ferocious intensity and a stark contrast to her earlier amusement. And just like that the mirror seemed to glow slightly before shattering into prismatic shards that further dissolved into the air, leaving no trace behind.
A beat of stunned silence enveloped the room. Then Squib's voice cut through the stillness a raw explosion of disbelief. "What the absolute fuck was that!" he yelled his finger pointing accusingly at John. Everyone else mirrored his gesture their eyes wide and horrified focusing their collective shock on the protagonist.
John managed a weak half-smile. "Well Oleg did say I was interesting." His attempt at levity fell flat.
Thoris slammed his mug onto the table making the remaining liquid slosh. His hands trembled as he tried to take another swig. "There's interesting den there's dis! Da fuck was dat! It ain't no god and ain't nothing I ever seen before!" He looked truly shaken his usual bravado gone.
"I don't know okay!" John shouted his own emotions finally getting the better of him. He ran a hand through his hair. "I only know that was Alice? Maybe? She should be dead and she was human. I know because I still checked her status. Twice! Once when I got an appraisal skill and again when the fucker was turning her into a puppet doll thing!" His voice cracked with a mixture of grief and frustration.
Arwin's gaze was unwavering his voice calm but firm. "And how sure are you that you killed her? That she did in fact die?" The question hung heavy in the air a challenge to John's core memory.
Taking a deep breath John stared Arwin straight in the eye as his resolve hardened. "Considering I was the one to kill her I'm absolutely sure. I watched the life leave what had become of her due to a powerful poison I fed her and I then laid her to rest with a lot of fire, I still stayed and watched it blaze for hours. I can't call myself a master killer or an expert of death but I think I can at least tell when a person is dead or not. It also wouldn't explain what just happened!" He pointed to the empty space where the mirror had been its absence now a gaping void.
Gorg grunted a low rumble in his chest. His large eyes unblinking. "No god. It was other. Make Gorg feel it something more. What of warning? What new humi friend do?" His simple words cut through the remaining tension carrying a primal weight of understanding.
John sighed his shoulders slumping. He felt utterly drained. "I don't know, I mean I already explained everything that I've been doing and have done. All I can do though is listen to her warning and try to grow as strong as I can as fast as I can well also trying to keep to my current plans of taking my world over on track. I mean there's not much else I can really do. I can't worry and focus on this when I have a war coming in just over a week, I don't like it but that needs to be my main focus right now. I'm almost certain the few gods taking interest will try to make even more trouble well trying to drag in the administrators and moderator imps, if for no other reason than to try and stop me from being a bigger thorn in their sides, maybe that's what she was talking about? Sigh, I can't focus on that right now no matter how much I wish I could, no matter how much more I wish I could talk more to her and try to find out how it's even possible, to make it clear she isn't a monster." His voice was heavy with weariness and a deep, unyielding sorrow.
A new, heavy silence that. The weight of his responsibilities and the impossible nature of Alice's return and the unseen threats he faced settled over them all. They exchanged glances again, a silent conversation passing between them.
Squib broke the quiet first a grin slowly spreading across his face. "Well, this is something interesting that hasn't happened in a while. I say we support him in his early endeavors, much like how we help each other, if for no other reason than to turn him from a thorn into a knife that gets twisted into there side." His enthusiasm was infectious and clear means to try and help get over his earlier fear.
Arwin nodded with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Well, we don't really have much else to do other than control our own worlds anyway well weeding out the followers of the gods and trying to work out how to jump to the ones parallel our own to further spread out our own control like big green here. And with no way to reach the gods yet this could be a nice change of pace. Maybe his monster could be the key to crushing them or opening a crack for us to slip through so I'm in." He saw the strategic advantage a new variable in their long game.
"Y'all crazy, blooming mad! But ya know what? I'ma join in dis" Thoris added raising his mug with a renewed vigor a sliver of his old self returning.
"Me in" Gorg rumbled. He reached down seemingly plucking two small, iridescent pieces of gem stone before pushing them across the table towards John. Sweetbell flew over and whispered to him that it was a gesture of profound trust and commitment from the usually stoic being.
Oleg, after a moment of deep thought, finally smiled widely. His eyes gleamed with a mischievous light. "Well, it could be fun and a better use of my resources than having them sit around gathering dust. Also, those are gem seeds. Gorg is giving you what can equate to a gem tree once grown and a source of various kinds of golems if grown properly. I'll give you an explanation on how later." He paused then a true spark of cunning entering his gaze. "Besides, what kind of young masters would we be if we didn't flaunt what we have? If we help our little friend here and it's known we're the ones helping, wouldn't it be a big middle finger to those bastards who still continue to bother us? Would be another great way to screw with their plans?"
That remark was met with a chorus of laughter and further cemented their agreement. The mood in the room shifted dramatically once more, from fear to a rebellious camaraderie as they tried to move past and ignore what had happened. Questions of what John needed and various offers poured forth, from soldiers and slaves alike to the promise of rare food and other crucial war supplies and tips on what they had done in their own worlds. John found himself filled with by a renewed sense of purpose as his newly formed allies rallied around him ready to face the impossible even if they wouldn't be there in person at his side they were determined to make sure he was ready for whatever was thrown at him.