Chapter 147.12

Arc 14.5 - God of Stories - Part 12

『Wake up!』

Once Nazar flew into the black hole, he heard a mysterious voice.

The voice was calm yet chaotic, divine yet demonic. It did not fit into any category.

The voice felt remarkably similar, yet he could not figure out whom it belonged to.

“What?!”

He stopped as a giant hand came out of the black hole. The light hand, which was looming over him, caused Nazar’s body to feel as if it was shredding apart.

Nazar narrowed his eyes.

『I have given you a gift, a gift of a beautiful life, don’t let it go to waste.』

Nazar glanced around in a confused manner, wondering who this man is.

He tried to analyse his existence, but this voice kept changing itself to keep itself hidden.

Could it be Arosus? Or X? Or the Dragon? Or… Nazar thought to himself. Nameless One?

Nazar laughed with a shake of his head.

Arosus… Maybe. But anyone else… Yeah, no. Not at all.

『So...』

The voice wanted to say something, but Nazar interrupted him.

“Who are you?”

『Nobody.』

Hmmmmm. Not fitting anyone so far… Nameless One? I don’t know, I don’t think so. He is too weak for something like this.

He did not show his troubling thoughts on his face.

“Hmm. Anyway, I don’t need your help, dumbass. I can kill you if you stand in my wa--”

『Shut up, you filth!』

The hand reached closer to Nazar.

For some reasons, the energy felt awfully familiar but at the same time, it was dwarfing his existence, so he could not get a better read on it.

『Now...』

The hand clenched and confined Nazar within it.

He tried to fight it but he was too weak.

『Wake up!』

လလလ

*Gasp*

Back in Plymouth, UK, inside his room in his house, Nazar opened his eyes wide with a gasp. He noticed the soft chest he was lying on and his expression turned even more confused.

He abruptly stood up as he noticed his bedroom in his parent’s house.

With his mouth and eyes opened wide, he looked around.

Nazar’s eyes fell on Laura, who was sitting on the bed with a squinted face of confusion.

“What… happened?”

Nazar placed his hands on the bed as he leaned towards Laura.

“Wh--What--- What--- Wait, one second.” Nazar took a few deep breaths to calm down. “How much do you hate me?”

“...????” dozens of question marks appeared around her head. “But I don’t hate you?”

“Do you not remember---”

Nazar stood up and looked at the ceiling. Or so it seemed on the surface. In actuality, he was staring at something beyond the veils of the sky.

“The Eight Dimensional Plane of Existence is as it was… It has not been destroyed. Even with reverse, I should notice… But nothing is wrong here. No, wait, the reverse did not even happen... Huh? That's odd.”

Seeing Nazar grumbling to himself, Laura’s face was flushed with worry.

“Hey, what happened? Are you okay?”

Nazar scratched his head as he thought.

“No… No, yes. Right, right. Yes, yes. Yes, I am okay, thanks for asking… And sorry for worrying you but...”

Nazar touched his temple with his hand.

My other personalities are dead, I am whole but...

Nazar glanced at Laura and he could see their connection was back.

It has never been destroyed… This is… It is the same with the upper dimension, it has not been destroyed...

Nazar sat down on the floor as he pressed his back to the wall.

He let out a long and heavy breath. Many emotions danced on his face. From confusion to anxiousness, from nervousness to horror and fear.

He placed his hand on his forehead as he tried to speak but words won’t come out.

“Nazar?!”

Worried, Laura laid face down on the bed and looked at his side profile.

“You okay?”

The world has not been reversed… It does not make sense. X has not come here-- No, he was on Earth, but the moment he entered this room--- No, right before he entered this room, everything… Okay, let’s take a step back.

Nazar calmed himself down.

Just before he entered this room, I-- Nobody else, just me. It seems I was pushed into another world. Something…

“OH!” he blurted out as he realised something.

A relieved expression appeared on his face.

“Ha… ha… Haha!”

His shoulders relaxed and he rested his head on the bed behind him.

“Oh, so that’s how it is.”

“Dude, you gone mad again?”

He looked at Laura and kissed her on the cheek.

“!” her eyes opened in surprise for a moment. “That’s… new.”

He moved his right hand and placed it on her right cheek and started caressing.

“I love you.”

“Yeah, I know, me too. But what brought this one?”

Nazar smiled softly.

“Nothing, just wanted to say that.”

It seems I was pulled into an Ultraverse just like this. A different one. Everything was the same, except the people were constructs, except for that guy. Who was that even--

Nazar widened his eyes slightly as he looked away from Laura and spaced off into the ceiling.

“Am I acting differently?” he asked himself slowly, however, Laura heard it and answered him.

“I don’t think so?”

“Hmm...”

He then glanced at himself and bit his lips as he thought.

That man changed my personality. Being connected with Laura, it keeps my “evil” side dormant and the “good” side is in control.

“This is for the better…” he muttered in a somewhat of a gloomy manner, but Laura could not make it out. “Because a dog without a leash wanders in directions it should not.”

He raised his head once more with a smile.

“Yeah, this is for the better,” he said softly.

Laura rolled her eyes as she sat up properly and crossed her legs on the bed.

“Come here, you are probably stressed, so lay down and sleep.”

“I...”

He looked at her cheery and happy face, but he started to feel guilty for what happened in that other place.

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

“Nothing, just...”

Does her brother exist in this world? And if he does… Should I tell her? Or should he wait to tell Laura himself? Maybe he is keeping it a secret for a reason, no? Anyway, it’s not my place, I think.

“Just because.”

He stood up.

“Alright, I need to go and meet Emily. I need to...”

Laura leaned forward and held his hand, so he looked down at it confusingly.

“...talk-- !!”

She pulled him down and he fell onto her chest again.

She wrapped her arms around his head and held him tightly.

“Hm?”

“Nothing,” she jerked her head aside, with a slight pout of anger - or perhaps another emotion.

“Ah,” he realised what she was feeling so he smiled understandably with a hint of happiness. “You know what they say, jealousy is not--”

“I am not jealous!” she snapped, although she was not angry, but a little embarrassed.

“Then?” he teased her.

“No~thin~g~" she hugged him even tighter.

On her face, a faint smile spread.

“Now go to sleep. You are not waking up until you feel better.”

“Thanks,” he wrapped his arms around her waist. “I don’t deserve you.”

“I know,” she joked in return.

လလလ

Many hours after Nazar fell asleep, he felt something on his chest, so he opened his eyes.

When his eyes opened, he immediately tilted it to a side in a confused manner as he saw Laura’s looming face.

“What are you doing?”

Laura, who was sitting on his chest, clicked her tongue.

“Don’t move, I am fixing your hair.”

Nazar chuckled with an expression that said, really?

“You have nice hair, waste a bit of time on it, will you?”

“I just can never get it right.”

“Well, then, leave it to me.”

Laura used her hands to brush his hair from one side to another.

The warm smile on her face made him forget about all his worries.

“Now if I do this-- Nah, this is…” she muttered. “Why is this not working? It should look amazing.”

“Meh, the messy one looks the best. Maybe I should let it grow a little? What do you think?”

“Hmm,” Laura sat up. “Can you change the length of your hair?”

“Yeah, I have complete control over my body.”

The length of his hair increased by a few centimeters.

“Is that good?”

“Yes, that’s better.”

She messed around with his hair for a moment, but then she sighed as she gave up.

“It's such good hair but it’s a shame no hairstyle would look decent on you.”

“Maybe it’s the face.”

“Nah that’s fine. Anyway, maybe it’s because I have gotten used to this messy hair of yours that nothing else works.”

“That could be it. Also have I ever told you how beautiful those braids look on your hair. It’s great.”

“Why, thank you,” she smiled widely as she strolled her fingers through her hair. “It is kind of hard to make, but it’s worth it. My mam---” before her face flushed red in embarrassment, she cleared her throat. “My mom taught me how to style it.”

“Speaking of your mam-- I mean, you “mom”,” he laughed teasingly, and she smacked him on the shoulder. “Ouch. Anyway, what kind of woman is she? And your dad?”

“Um,” Laura pursed her lips to one side as she thought. “Your typical parents, I guess? But my mom is a little too controlling and "traditional", I suppose? My dad is more open minded and let us do just whatever. I guess it's because his parents were very strict and abused him, which is why he has never gotten angry at me or my brother. Even if we do something wrong.”

"I see," Nazar nodded his head as he was not sure how else to react. He was also at a loss for words. What was he meant to say in a situation like this?

"You should meet them one day," Laura added. "Actually, never mind."

"Yep, that's not gonna end well."

"Yeah…" she replied with a distant disappointed look on her face. "If they didn't know the real you, they would probably like you."

"Ouch!"

Laura moved away from his chest and he sat up on the bed and started stretching his arms and neck.

"I didn't know you could get stiff muscles."

"I don't," he replied with a little hesitation. "I just stretch them because it feels nice."

"I see," she nodded, although she struggled to understand what he found fun about stretches. "Also, have your powers grown?"

"!!"

He froze in his place.

Many thoughts and emotions raced on his face in a split second.

How could she know?

Perhaps she really did not forget--

He threw away his thoughts and baseless suspensions.

...Being suspicious of everyone and everything isn't good.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, when I entered the room earlier, you were groaning in pain and saying something like "No, not again". I couldn't think of anything, so I wondered if your powers had grown and maybe that's why?"

She chuckled at the conclusion she arrived at. It made perfect sense to her back then, but thinking about it now, she found it silly.

It was that dream again.

Months ago, the Queen forced herself on him. He could not do anything to stop her and it has since been haunting him.

No matter how much he pushes them away, those dreams find its way to his mind.

"Then you stopped groaning when I entered the room. So, I woke you up, in my own unique way," she spread her arms wide with an expression that was waiting for praise.

"...Yeah, my power has grown a bit. It happens sometimes."

"Oh."

"But I am good. The energy within you has gotten stronger to fight my demons for me."

Laura crossed an arm around her generous chest and with the index finger of her other hand, she drummed on her cheek, thinking.

"So, basically, what you are saying is, I am your saviour."

Nazar puffed his cheeks as he thought.

Not coming with an answer, he whizzed out the air and nodded while tilting his head from side to side.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Sweet!"

"Thank you, savi…our…"

He bowed his head, trying to thank her from the bottom of his heart, even though if it looked as if he was joking. However, he remembered something, so he slowly trailed off.

He raised his head with an apologetic and regretful look pasted on his face.

He was sorry about where he wanted to go and felt regret for what he did in the other place to a certain someone.

"Anyway, I will be back in a moment. I need to do something real quick."

Emily… Does she remember?

Worried, he swallowed his saliva.

"Sure. I will see you soon then."

And just like that, the world glitched and Nazar went away.

Laura raised her eyebrow, astonished by what she had seen.

"That’s so cool," a corner of her lips spread into a soft smile.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Paris, France:

It was late in the evening and the skies were painted orange with the setting sun.

Emily was sitting on a bench in a park while eating an apple when Nazar teleported next to her.

“Oh, it’s you,” she spoke lazily.

Nazar raised his hands in reflex, as if trying to defend himself.

“Look, I am sorry.”

“About?” she looked at him quizzically.

Her response was enough for him to reach a conclusion; she does not remember.

“... Nothing,” Nazar blinked a few times as his body relaxed. “Nothing at all.”

He faced forward and stared at the orange sky.

So, my mind is not being messed around with… She doesn’t know, which means I was definitely sucked elsewhere. I am 99.99% sure now.

“Sorry.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Again, about what?”

“... Nothing. Nothing at all.”

“Ugh,” she groaned as she stared at him.

She continued to stare at him, waiting for him to speak.

“...What?”

Nazar glanced at him from a corner of his eye.

“Go on. Explain.”

“Nothing--” he cut off his own words. “Can you sense changes in the cosmology?”

Emily pursed her lips as she thought.

“Nah, I am not that powerful.”

“Are you… Are you more powerful than the Nameless One?”

Hearing his name, Emily’s expression turned gloomy for a brief moment.

He is dead, the man who created her and Nazar is dead but only she knows that between the two of them.

There is so much she wanted to ask from that madman and so much she wanted him to pay for, but alas, it's too late.

“N-no,” she swallowed her saliva. “No, I am not.”

“Hm.”

“He said I have more destructive power than him, but… I don’t think I am as powerful as him.”

He understood and nodded, “Makes sense.”

No matter how powerful a three dimensional being becomes, but ultimately, they will always be inferior to higher dimensional beings. Since they exist many planes above them, they can understand more of the universe and have greater control over it.

“Say...”

He struggled to bring out the next few words out of his mouth.

He knows he shouldn’t say it, but he wanted to know no matter what.

“Do you love your powers?”

“Meh,” she held her hand parallel to the ground - face down- and rocked slightly. “It has its uses. I love it sometimes… But other times, it gets a bit hard to deal with.”

“I see,” he couldn’t help but feel a little relieved that she did not like her powers as much as she thought she did. He felt bad about it, but it’s good to know because the next thing he said was quite terrible. “When you ever get tired of those powers and come to hate it, use this, okay?”

He handed her a blue glowing orb.

“Use this and it will get rid of your power and immortality. And of course, you will be disconnected from the timeline, but it won’t be affected in a bad way. So...”

He looked at her with a faint sad smile.

“I apologised for this in advance.”

“Haha,” Emily laughed as she took the orb. “Thanks. Means a lot.”

His smile vanished and was replaced by a surprised look.

“What?” Emily chuckled. “You don’t know me too well, it seems.”

“But I thought you hated that I was more powerful?”

“Just messing around with you, that’s all.”

“I see,” he felt relieved. He did not want to hate his oldest friend or hurt her in any way, like he did moments ago in another place. “That’s good.”

In front of Emily, the space opened up like a blooming flower, revealing a small doorway to a pocket dimension and she placed the orb in it.

“Also, you are scaring everyone in the park.”

“They can’t see me.”

She rolled her eyes.

“They can’t, but they feel your presence, which is very...” Emily paused for a moment, trying to find the right word to describe it, “scary. It screams of bloodlust and evil.”

“Uhhh,” he stared blankly at her.

“Seriously, it feels like it will dwarf everyone and everything. No wonder why nobody dares talk about you. They keep it to themselves.”

“Hmm?”

Nazar’s skin and clothes stretched for a moment as another Nazar came out of him.

“Let’s look at myself from a perspective of a human.”

The new Nazar he had cloned was just a human with no connection to Nazar, other than his face. He also did not possess any powers.

The human Nazar looked at his real self.

“Oh damn,” the real Nazar said as he raised his eyebrows. “I never noticed that’s how humans see me. I should probably get rid of it.”

"Not should, must."

He nodded his head a little.

The clone vanished and Nazar looked at Emily.

“Thank you,” he smiled softly.

“For a guy who sees and hears everything, you really don’t see how others feel in your presence, do you?”

Nazar squinted his eyes in a confused manner, “What do you...”

Emily shook her head with a weary sigh, “Nothing. I don't think you will ever understand, idiot.”

"No."

Suddenly, the answer struck into his mind.

“Wait, could you mean...”

That would make sense. It makes all the sense. Eddie mentioned something similar once before, but I didn’t take him too seriously.

“Shit!”

He stood up abruptly.

“Damn it. I never noticed that. I did not realise I had a natural presence which scared everyone. Never expected that to be honest.”

Emily looked up to him, “Are you serious right now? You are a god damned Destroyer.”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Look at mine.”

And so, he did, however, he did not find anything odd about her.

“That’s because I turn it off. Or tone it down.”

Nazar frowned.

“Why would anyone worry about someone like that? I am just being my usual self.”

“Yeah, which is the most powerful guy in the room, so yes, your normal self has this creepy and evil presence,” Emily replied hastily, with a hint of annoyance mixed into it. "Unbelievable!"

“Hm...”

Nazar sat down as he thought.

“Alright, alright," he sounded tired and annoyed. "I should--" he cut off his own words and then continued loudly, with a frown, "I WILL get rid of it.”

His eyes lit up with white energy for a split second as his presence vanished, making him completely invisible in that regard.

“Much better. Now if someone sees you, they will find you less intimidating than a bunny.”

“Hrk!” he was hurt by what she said, so hurt that he lost all strength in his body instantly. He became so weak, Emily thought he would fall down into the ground like a deflated balloon.

Less than a bunny…?

Emily giggled as he saw Nazar’s spirit leaving him.