Intermission 2: The God and the Vitan

“Welcome, it’s been a while hasn’t it?”

In an empty room with only papers and a pillow as the makeshift furniture, a well-trimmed man greeted a visitor to his personal world.

“It truly has been God, well not like I can do much about it, it takes time for higher beings of different worlds to meet, even more if they are of a higher and lower plane”

“Me? A higher plane God? You’re too kind Felitsa”

The one who entered the room was a Vitan, a form of god but unlike God, she shared her world with others of her kind. Red hair with black streaks, black eyes, and wearing a gaudy kimono which made one question which world she was a part of.

“Still a fan of the culture in my world aren’t you? Ah, where are my manners have a seat.”

As he said that, in front of the God, a number of stacks of paper disappeared and in its place, a pillow similar to his materialized.

“Thank you, and whatever do you mean taking your culture? My temple has always followed this look, not my fault that some of the religions in your world made out that what they perceive as the Shinto Gods liked this look.”

“If you say so”

Who was right and who was wrong in this accusation? Neither of them knew, it was just their idle talk every time they meet.

“Would you like something to drink? I can’t really offer much though”

“You have any sake? I have a strong liking to it.”

“…”

“What?”

“Nothing, just questioning if my silly accusation holds meaning to it, fufu”

Just like the pillow before, a bottle of sake and two glasses materialized in the room, after pouring a drink and taking it, the Vitan by the name of Felitsa began the talk that really brought her to this room.

“So, what made you decide to send your Wanderer to the world I inhabit?”

“Mm? Isn’t obvious? You requested me to assist you 10 millennia ago, at that time I could provide nothing in your cause, but finally something came along. Aren’t you fine with that?”

“…Why would you assist now, when you didn’t before? It’s not like you’ll gain anything out of this, at least before I could offer something but now I’m too weak to even do that.”

“My profit is the entertainment the Wanderer I sent is giving me, have you seen him? After all, you plan to make him your husband.”

With a cynical grin, the God looked at Felitsa as he openly reminded her of what she asked of him the first time.

“Erm, *cough* ye-yes, that too”

“You’re really innocent aren’t you Felitsa? Well, the best way to describe him sin’t really husband, he could also be strategic piece, a lover, a pawn, a fake cover, perhaps? Which of these do you believe best fits the circumstances of what you’re doing with the Wanderer of my world?”

The grin became darker and the eyes looked like nothing less of a cat playing with a mouse. Yet, the man never did more than that and just let the Vitan tell her opinion on the matter.

“Erm, *cough* preferably I would say I want him as a cover, but a cover is useless when it comes to Bastian, so the only option would be becoming a lover and then marrying him”

“Interesting, interesting, just thinking about it, that brute of Bastian really did a number on you back when you first asked of my help. What was it again that he said? ‘Become one of my mistresses or prove to me that it will be impossible for it to be’”

“You really memorized that?”

“Indeed, I actually have recorded in one of my papers. But going back to your issue, the way Bastian put it, he wanted you to be his sex toy, but you also needed to unconditionally love him, if you couldn’t love him, then you needed to show someone you did love instead. Ah, and that individual had to return their love to you, did I get it all right?”

While giving a cold stare to the grinning God, Felitsa nodded and signaled him to keep talking, since he looked like he had more to say.

“However, I must ask, if the man gave you so much time to find a partner, why didn’t you find one?”

“That’s because it wasn’t enough time in the least!! What was I supposed to do, just lay myself barren to the first man I find in Eurena!?”

“Not enough time? Sweetie, you do realize that in 10 millennia, humans, the current main race in my world, managed to evolve from hunters and gatherers to individuals that can travel though space and even more right? So, you mean to tell me, that in that gigantic window of time, you never once managed to find a man, or even a woman, to your liking?”

He kept his smile, but the tone and eyes of the God were turning serious with every line he spouted.

“Fine, let’s say you didn’t, so why do you cling to the hope that the Wanderer I sent to the world you inhabit, will be able to not only meet you, but get close to you, marry you and by extension be prepared to fight against one of the higher Vitans of Gelu!?”

“We-we-well, I don’t know, I’m just desperate, I was stupid to not search during that time, and even if I did search during that time, my power began to dwindle with time and right now, I’m barely able to scrape by without my temple collapsing on me!! *sniff* *sniff*”

“Tissue?”

“Tha-thank you”

On the sight of the crying Felitsa, the God finally broke his grinning barrier and decided to seriously think a bit of her problem.

“…Fine, let’s say that Hugh, no, his name is Lucien now, let’s say that Lucien for some miraculous reason fall in love with you and marries you. You have your partner, but I don’t think he will be of much good in actual combat if Bastian gets serious and tries to take you.”

“Wh-why is that?”

“Because Lucien has no magic, haven’t you searched or seen anything about him?”

With the sound of glass shattering in Felitsa’s mind, she hurriedly asked why her last hope instead of becoming someone’s mistress was with a complete lack of magic within him.

“Wh-why would that be?”

“Mmm? Ah, that’s because I took it from him”

“Why would you do that!? Rather, isn’t that a horrible thing to do to anyone that becomes a Wanderer? Give them the hope of something great in their new life and then take it from them without them even knowing!?”

“Oh without a doubt, however I felt it was a fitting thing to do. You know how I feel about people who end their own lives.”

“…He killed himself, yet he still classified to be a Wanderer?”

“He didn’t die solely for his self-pity, but partially because he felt as a burden to those around him, that’s why he could still be reincarnated, but that doesn’t mean I have forgiven him. So, I gave him a small handicap, but in exchange his body evolved a substitute to the magic lack with his blood control.”

“Blood control?”

“You really annoy me with all those questions, learn a bit more about the guy you plan to marry why don’t you!”

“I would if I could, but with how my power is right now, anything outside of direct mind manipulation and pyromancy is out of my reach”

“*sigh*, well, it goes like this. Lucien’s body to make up for the lack of magic power began to work so that he could control his blood as long as it was out of his blood stream, he can’t do much with it now, but from his background, he has the knowledge to make that into something very interesting. There, does that summarize the Dummies version of Lucien’s blood control? Good, no questions allowed.”

“What are you doing?”

“Killing time. Point is his body tried to make up for him not having mana, if you want to learn more, then observe him. Here use this.”

Felitsa was handed a sheet of paper, one side was blank and the other was written so much that the white paper was almost pure black.

“This is?”

“That’s a Seer Paper, well a copy at least, it’s supposed to allow you to find and observe the individual whose information is written on it. It’s very delicate, so use it wisely. This should let you observe him, but it won’t let you interact with him, for that I recommend you to go meet him or guide him to your temple.”

“…How do I activate it?”

“Implant your index finger here, input some of your mana and it will show you his actions in equivalent to how much mana you inputted”

“Thank you, but…won’t this make me seem like a stalker? And why do you have this?”

“Probably, and because I’m the God of his world remember? I keep track of each and every individual that is born within it, I just have his closer since it gives me a source of entertainment and it’s important to keep track of the Wanderers.”

“I-I see…”

“Stop looking at me with those pitiful eyes. Here, activate it.”

When Felitsa poured her mana in the loose sheet, the paper straightened out and began to glow on the white side, in it, it showed a bird’s eye view of Lucien. Upon seeing him, Felitsa was filled with more questions than answers.

“Is that him? Isn’t he a tad bit too young?”

“Compared to you or by human standards?

Haha, I’m kidding, put that glare away. But yeah, that’s him, and yes he is young, however humans grow extremely fast compared to other sentient races, give him 3 or 4 years and he’ll start to look the part you want.”

“Who is that next to him? And where are they?”

“That would be his maid, Marla, shifty girl but she’s in love with him, so she won’t harm him don’t worry…wait, she’s a rival for you, isn’t she...perhaps is best I stop with my jokes. As for where they are…oh that’s right, today was when he was planning to go to the slave market.”

“A personal maid that loves her master…wait, slave market? Why is he there!? Isn’t he just a kid?”

“A kid with the intelligence of an adult, he’s doing that for a deal he made with his father…oh? Looks like he’s doing something interesting again, fufu.”

“What is he do-”

The mana ran out and the paper lost its’ light and became loose once again.

“Well, that’s enough for now. You know how to use it and how to keep track on him. Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to hit it off before Bastian comes for you in…”

“10 years”

“Oh my, that’s sooner than I thought. No wonder you’re fricking out...

Well, I’ll give you a piece of guidance, take a look at these.”

Similar to the pillow and the sake before, a collection of pictures materialized out of thin air in front of the two. The pictures had a range of focal points and targets, but all shared a theme of nature.

“And these are?”

“Pictures taken by him. Despite his professional career, the kid had the capabilities of making a living out of wildlife photography, but he kept it solely as a hobby, however the things he got through the lens of his camera are outstanding if I do say so myself.”

While looking through the pictures, Felitsa could only nod to the God’s words, it looked like she was mesmerized by them. A panorama picture of a sand bar filled with water birds to a close-up of a resting jaguar with an Aztec pyramid as a backdrop. Each picture spoke a tale and all of them were taken by the person whose current looks were that of a 12-year-old boy.

“*cough*”

“Ah? Oh, sorry, I got lost looking at them. Erm, so why did you show me these?”

“It’s a hint to help you, the man has a strong interest for the natural world, give him the right pieces to explore it and he’ll be thankful for it”

“Isn’t that just me buying his love?”

“Might seem like so at first, but you just need a middle ground to work with him, get close and then make him yours”

“…You’re dark, but I might use that…”

“Fufu, I’m glad, and don’t worry, as long as you don’t hurt or blatantly lie to him, he won’t resent you. He has some personal problems, but he is still wary of his surroundings. Remember his maid? She told him a small lie, but because of that lie, his trust in her decreased a bit and now he’s getting new ideas in his head on how to deal with her.”

“The-then, what should I do?”

“Watch over him, get close to him, but like with most things in the universe, don’t get on his bad side. Even if he won’t do anything to hurt you, he’ll probably still leave a sense of guilt on those that hurt him. But don’t worry, he’s still a good person.”

“After saying something like that, what makes you so sure?”

“Even if he lost his memories from his previous life, he still acts in a similar manner to how he did when he was Hugh, and that greedy man still had a strong but hard to reach caring side. Get on that side, and you got yourself the husband you need.”

Unaware of her actions, to the God’s words, Felitsa gave a soft, sincere smile, the smile of someone developing a crush, but the God didn’t bother to point it out, since he deemed it too much of a bad manner.

“I see, thank you Go-no. thank you Pietro.”

“It was my pleasure Felitsa. Well, best be on your way now, thank you for the visit and have a nice day.”

Felitsa took one last sip from her glass, rose form her sit and left the room. Inside the room, the God by the name of Pietro just stood still for a few minutes, and afterwards he began to look over his papers again.

In amidst the work, Pietro muttered.

“…I’m sorry I can’t be of much use and I know the time has long passed to serve any meaning…but I hope you make good use of the best aid I can give you…my dear daughter, Felitsa…”

With those words, he turned back to his regular self and began working once again while humming a cheerful tune.

End of Intermission 2