Arc 84 - Rapture (Part 3)

Saturday, 7th of September 2019:

Nazar was still lying down on the sofa. He opened his eyes but his vision was blurry for a little while.

He scratched his eyes.

“Solace?”

- Saturday, 7th of September. 4 AM. -

“Thanks.”

- Feeling better? -

“Yes. No headache or spinning head.”

- That’s good to hear. And you should take a shower, it should help you a little. -

"I see."

He got up and went to the bathroom.

“Solace, turn on the soundproof shield. It will be bad if I wake them up.” Nazar said with a very low voice. It was almost like whispering.

- Okay, Master. -

Nazar took a shower.

- I have fixed your shirt. So, you should be able to wear it properly. -

“Thanks.”

He then went back downstairs and turned on the TV.

- Soundproofing the room. -

“Thanks.”

He changed channel after channel and found nothing interesting.

“What are this year’s animes?”

- The ones you have not yet watched are: One Punch Man Season 2, Attack on Titan Season 3-- -

“Actually forget about that. I have not watched Titans, yet. I want to see how bad it is.”

- Okay, Master. Playing Titans now. -

Nazar watched the first five minutes and he looked like he was going to vomit.

“This is so bad.”

- Do you want to watch something else? -

“No. This is fun. I like to watch myself suffer.”

- According to online reviews, it gets better. -

“I will take your words for it.”

Nazar then watched the show for a few episodes.

“Okay, this is not for me.”

- Do you want to watch something even worse? -

“Yes, please.”

- Venom movie coming up. -

He watched the movie for an hour or so and then was already bored.

“Not for me.”

- Okay, how about Aquaman? -

“Pass.”

- Shazam? -

“Already watched it.”

- Captain Marvel? -

“I would rather die than watch that.”

- Oof. Okay, how about Daredevil? You have not watched that, yet. -

“I have.”

- I meant Season 3. -

“I have.”

- Really? Then I need to update your read/watch list. -

“Okay, play the old Daredevil film. That film was so bad.”

- Okay, Master. -

Nazar watched about 20 minutes of the film when Emma entered the room.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“What was wrong with you yesterday?”

“I… I have no idea.”

She sat on the other sofa.

“So, what happened about a month ago… was that real? In that dark place?”

“Yes.”

Nazar’s very fast reply made her surprised.

“So… So, I killed you, huh?”

“Well, you were doing me a favour.”

“And what you told me?”

“Yes.”

Nazar sat down.

“Let me tell you everything I know.”

“Okay.”

Nazar took a deep breath.

“So, apparently Alice sold her soul just to save you.”

“WHAT?!”

“But when I asked my… our biological parents, they said you were born dead. So, I should assume that her deal made it look like that you were dead from the start. And then I think she brought me here because you were here. At least that’s what I think.”

“...”

“And I think she did that because she thought you might have powers too. At least that I think.”

There was a little silence.

“So, what were they like? Our parents, I mean. (It’s still a little weird to say.)”

“Do you remember the ‘Dead City’ incident?”

“Yes.”

“That was our father. And do you remember the woman who appeared and then blew up above London?”

“That was our mother?”

“Yes.”

Emma held her head in her hands.

“Our father blew up a city. Our mother tried to blow up another city. Aria tried to destroy everything, just to kill you. And then there is you.”

“...”

“Am I the only who is normal in our family?”

“Yes. Yes, you are the only normal one.”

“Is… is this really real?”

“Look. I know it is hard to believe but I had Solace compared your DNA map to the other version of you in another universe and then also compared your DNA to me and our good-for-nothing parents.”

She stood up.

“Can I punch you in the face?”

“Go ahead.”

Nazar stood up and she punched him in the face.

“Oh, so it is real.”

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“Okay. You can punch me in the face.”

Instead, Nazar flicked her nose.

“Ow.”

“It wasn’t that hard.”

“I sorry for punching you.”

“No, it's okay. I needed it.”

Emma then hugged him.

“Where is Aria?”

“She left to go home. Apparently, she wants to go to school.”

“Why would she want to go to school?”

“She is young.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, so what happened when you left with Laura.”

“That’s a long story.”

There was a little silence once more.

“I want to meet our whole biological family. Like Aria’s mother and father.”

Nazar thought for a little while.

“Okay.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But can we do it sometime later? I don’t really feel like doing it right now?”

“Okay.”

“Solace, what time is it?”

- 7.25 AM. -

Nazar laid down on the sofa.

“So, Solace told me that it was just your nose that was bleeding. Is that right?”

“Pretty much.”

“But are you really okay?”

“Yes. After sleeping for more than 16 hours. I feel better.”

“Anyway, what about you and Laura? Any new developments?”

Nazar smiled.

“Kind of.”

“Hm. What happened?”

“We kissed.”

Emma’s mind went completely blank.

“No. I don’t believe you.”

“Don’t.”

“But seriously? You actually kissed her?!” She looked excited.

“But I told her that she should stay away from me. It's for her own good. She will be the one who gets hurt in the long run.”

“...?”

“I should have stayed away from her. Maybe things would have been better for her. It was my fault that already caused her this many problems.”

“What if she… what if she does not want that?”

“... I have not thought about it that far. But I highly doubt she will stick around. She would not want to stay close. I have caused her so many problems -- wait, what are you doing here?!”

All of a sudden Lian appeared out of nowhere.

“Oh my god, I missed you, my love.”

Lian hugged him, while Nazar was still sitting down. This made Nazar beyond uncomfortable.

“I missed you so much. My lover is finally back.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Since when are we lovers?”

“Remember on that date we went on?”

“No.”

Lian sat next to him.

“Why are you here?”

“We caught your energy signature. It was weak so we missed it. But I noticed it when I looked over the energy and wanted to check out. And then I saw you here.”

“Ah. I see.”

Lian then stared at Emma and it made her uncomfortable.

“What?”

“Are you not happy to see me, future sister-in-law?”

“...”

“No one is happy to see you here, Lian,” Nazar said immediately.

“No. I am happy to see… uh… this alien but I have no idea who she really is.”

“Alien, huh? I am offended.”

“No one cares, Lian.”

Lian wrapped her arms around Nazar.

“Tch. What do you want?”

“Nothing?”

Nazar sighed.

“It seems to me that you want something.”

Lian unwrapped her arms.

She took a deep breath and her expression became more serious.

“Your energy signature vanished from this universe. Then it reappeared briefly and with it, the whole universe shook to its core. What happened?”

“You could have a started with that question.”

“I...uh… will leave you guys alone,” Emma said.

“No, no. It’s perfectly fine. You can stay here and you might learn a thing or two, future sister-in-law.”

Both Nazar and Emma sighed.

“You can stay. I don’t feel comfortable around her when I am alone.”

“Okay.“

Nazar turned around a little and looked at Lian.

“The Nameless One - the second being to ever exist - teamed up with Lucifer, and entered the multiverse. As soon the Nameless One did, Lucifer shook the multiverse to its core - just to intimidate me. Then he took me to somewhere outside of the multiverse and killed me over and over and over again. I, Lucifer, and another being teamed up and destroyed him.”

Lian could not believe what Nazar told her.

“That… that is a little hard to believe.”

“Believe it or not. It is up to you.”

“I see.”

She stood up.

“Well, thank you for that.”

“So, who are giving this information to?”

“The High Priest. And Kiet, Hial, and Weq. These are one of the largest empires and they want to know what happened to the universe. And we want payment. Payment for keeping your planet safe for you, when you were gone.”

“I see.”

“And what about Lucifer?”

“I don’t know. But that bastard… He will return today or tomorrow or a billion years from now. Who knows?”

“If it ever comes to that, do you know what you have to do? I mean, if Lucifer ever returns.”

“Yes. I will have to do something about that. I will give you a little data on Lucifer. Solace?”

- Are you sure, Master? -

“Yes. It is payment for their help.”

- Okay, Master. -

The invisible N-Sphere became visible. In the thin air, a small device appeared.

Lian took it.

“Thank you, lover.”

She then kissed Nazar on the cheek before she vanished.

Nazar just sighed.

“She creeps me out.”

“Me too.”

“Then why are you hanging around her?”

“She can be useful.”

Nazar just laid down on the sofa again.

“You… It is not my place but I think you should rethink about Laura.”

“Hm?”

“If you really like her, then I don’t think you should throw her away. Just like you have thrown everyone away. You might regret it later. Who knows?”

“...”

“You know what? It is my place to tell you this. You have to talk to her. Don’t turn her away because you want to keep her safe. You should be able to protect her. Can you not?”

“I don’t have my powers--”

“But it won’t be like this all the time, right? If you think that you can not hurt yourself by being lonely, then you are stupid. Let me ask you this, do you prefer this you, the one who is living with us, or the one who lived alone on the moon?”

“...”

Nazar did not reply for a while.

“Come on. I am waiting for your answer.”

“...This one. The one where I am not alone,” Nazar said very slowly.

“So, why are you pushing her away? If she wants to stay close to you, then don’t push her away. I know you just want to know to stop yourself from being hurt, but you do know that you might be hurting others when saving yourself.”

“Okay. I get it.”

“So, I want to ask you another question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Did you always want to be alone because you wanted to or was it something else?”

“I… I am not sure I have an answer to that question. I still don’t know it myself.”

“I see.”

There was silence for a while until their foster father-- their father entered the room.

“Are you okay, Nazar?”

“Yes. I am fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“So, should we go out for breakfast?”

Nazar gave him a confused look.

“What? People eat breakfast outside sometime.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. Let’s all go out and have breakfast.”

“I… You know, I can’t. People will run away--”

- I shall enable your camouflage. -

Nazar sighed.

“Fine.”

After a while, they all went out for a family breakfast.

New York:

The UN building was no longer being used by anyone. It was perfectly fine but no one could enter the place because it was protected.

The Goddess of Knowledge entered the building via teleportation.

She looked around and the place had many computers and other documents.

“This place is a mess.”

She entered every room and checked every single piece of paper and computer.

However, she did not find anything in the rooms.

Her eyes turned white.

And then she smiled.

“Ah. There is a basement.”

She phased through all the floors until she reached the bottom of the basement.

She moved at super speed and checked everything.

“There is nothing here on him--”

She trailed off. Below the floor of the basement, there was a small empty space. There was concrete on top of it, so it was easily missable. However, she sensed the knowledge coming from that place.

Her powers work differently. She can ‘sense’ knowledge, whether it is in paper or computer or something else. Once she senses it, she can trace her fingers on one of the papers, she ‘abosrobs’ everything that is related to that paper. For example, if she touched a paper from a book, she will know everything that happened in that book. She will not learn anything more.

And she can learn everything from technology, by simply tapping into its mainframe. Once she does that, she will enter the ‘digital space’. She will know everything that happens in the digital world. So, right now, she knows everything that is available digitally. Whether it is a picture of a cat or classified information that is sent on secure lines.

She punched a hole through it with her fist.

Once she did that, she found a lot of papers that were hidden.

She traced her finger on one of the papers and then she absorbed all the information from that paper and the papers below it.

As she did, she smiled.

“Now, this is pretty well hidden, demon.”

Then all the papers started to float around her. It then spun around her at tremendous speed.

She held out her palm, then all the papers started to pile up in her hand. However, as soon as it piled up, it did not take any space. On her hand, there was simply one piece of paper. All other pieces of paper just got ‘absobed’ into the one piece of paper she had in her hand.

“We will meet soon, Nazar. It will be fun.”

She then vanished into thin air.