"He arrived. It took longer than we expected, but he's here." A hoarse voice, which sounded as if several people were talking at once, said.
Garrick lay there, stunned and frozen in place, unable to make the slightest movement with his limbs. He was terrified. Actually, he didn't know if it was despair, fear, anguish, or all these feelings united in one thing.
Once firmly attached to the ground, the sword began to rise from the ground at the same instant, and a humanoid-shaped shadow rose with it. It was strangely viscous like a liquid, with the chest region pierced by the sword chained by the shackles.
There was no blood, there was nothing. Just a huge hole and darkness that the boy thought was infinite. And at that moment, as if a strong breeze had just passed through the place, all the candles close to the being and Garrick went out in unison, leaving the place even darker than before and making it difficult for the boy to see.
His dry, brittle lips trembled, he swallowed, his throat hurting as the liquid went down. He was extremely nervous, he didn't know what to say, or even what to do at that moment. His body trembled nonstop with the enormous pressure the presence possessed, and he remained rigid and silent. His eyes hurt and his legs felt like they were going to break in half at any moment.
The more time passed, the more his despair grew, but he tried not to express it.
"He's weaker than we thought", a woman's voice muttered behind Garrick, but it soon fell silent.
He turned around, looking for the source of that speech, but he couldn't locate anything or anyone there, seeing that the spot was completely empty. He felt even more, chills through his body, his hair standing on end as he glanced back at that freak.
''I suggest you all shut up'', the husky voice once again reverberated throughout the hall, ''Let me talk to the boy, you're just scaring him.''
"We apologize for this weird appearance. We fear you were frightened by the power we released as well, so we will restrict ourselves from now on", that humanoid form made of shadows said, the viscous liquid that oozed from it and made it up subtly began to bubble; bubbles formed through every visible place in it and then a loud crack was heard all around.
A few drops of that thing flew across the room but began to creep to its source. Garrick followed the movement of a piece that was the size of two of his fingers, until it was finally reabsorbed by the creature.
''GFKJSAI HDfasdfij FASDKFk'', the bizarre creature said some intelligible things that sounded more like animal growls than words.
Garrick looked once more at the being, now having assumed another form that was familiar to him: that humanoid being had assumed the form of a child, more precisely the appearance of Garrick when he was only 11 years old.
The young man was more perplexed than before and frowned. He didn't know how that creature knew so many things about him, including the way he was when was just a damn little boy with 11 years old... but assuming he was dead, maybe that guy before him was god?
Assuming everything that had happened to him since coming to this place and the strange abilities the being had shown him, it was certainly possible. Still, even with so many thoughts and theories in his mind, the young man still didn't understand anything that was happening before him, let alone where he was or what was his purpose to be there.
"W-what the fuck are you?'', Garrick tried to speak with seriousness in his voice, but he stuttered and sounded like an idiot, "I mean, what are you? No, more importantly, what is this place we're in?"
''Hah'', the being laughed lightly in a muffled tone, approaching the spot where Garrick was. ''You talk a lot, huh, boy?''
Garrick felt fear but then realized that the pressure the being had been exhaling before, had simply disappeared. The creature didn't seem to be hostile towards him, so the boy just stood there, and decided not to attack the 'potentially fatal' thing.
It was weird as fuck to see his previous appearance with a voice that sounded like a garage band choir. He was sure this was an idea that would make horror movie directors a lot of money.
''You know, boy... we are very similar'', the being stopped in front of Garrick, his face almost glued to the young man's face, ''Judged, abandoned, and betrayed by society. We had everything we loved and cared about taken from us by the powerful ones, simply because they could.''
The creature waved the index finger of its left hand lightly, and at the same instant, two chairs appeared out of thin air; one just two steps away from Garrick and the other beside the creature, who sat up instantly and gestured for the boy to sit down too.
He obeyed the being's suggestion, who smiled hugely, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Garrick from head to toe in a split second. Suddenly, he clapped his hands as if to get the boy's attention and resumed his speech once more.
''I believe I haven't introduced myself, but I imagine you know me by other means'', said the creature, ''My name is Delarossi. I've seen you since you were born and I must say watching your life was interesting from start to finish boy, despite so much adversity you still lasted so long. That's worthy of congratulations.''
'Delarossi?', Garrick thought inwardly, 'That's the name of the third celestial, the god of life and reality in Heaven Realms!'
''Yup, that's me.'' The creature said, probably having read Garrick's thoughts, making the youth surprised when it answered him out of the blue.
''I really don't know how you were able to acquire information from our world, as even with my godly powers I couldn't access your memories on this matter'', Delarossi rubbed his chin in bewilderment, ''That is impressive, isn't it? The person who's behind it can be as powerful as a celestial and still deceive me.''
''But don't worry, I won't ask you anything about these matters. After all, as I said, I can't understand anything that has to do with these things for some reason. It's like the information is suddenly unencrypted, you know?''
Garrick nodded in agreement, still confused to learn that the world of Heaven Realms, his favorite game (although not at all popular) actually existed. Assuming that, then Shiifuu should be full of familiar people, such as the protagonist and his companions and the principal villains and antagonist, right?
''H-huh, Mr. Delarossi, may I ask you a question?''
''Feel free to do so.''
''Why the hell am I here talking to you? I should be dead, right?''
''Well, that's the crux of the matter here. You are indeed dead, it's been about five years since you jumped out of that building.''
''FIVE YEARS?''
That came as a complete shock to Garrick, who thought he had died just a few minutes ago.
''Time tends to pass differently in the worlds and here on the edge of the worlds.''
The two fell silent and the room suddenly turn quiet. Some seconds passed by like this, but Garrick tried to break this weird situation with a simple question that he had in his mind.
''So will I be sent to Aurora, since I am a soul?'', Garrick tried to ask calmly, stroking his temples, ''Or will I be punished for my sins or something similar?''
''No, you're not going to either of those two places.''
Garrick went into despair, if his knowledge of the game was truly connected to reality, it would mean that his existence would be completely erased from the universe.
''But that's not what you're thinking will happen to you, so don't worry,'' Delarossi smiled as he got up from his chair and approached Garrick with quick steps, ''You're going to reincarnate my sweet child, so do not worry about anything.''
Delarossi ran his hands through Garrick's messy strands of hair, smoothing the boy's lips and cheeks at the same time with the back of his hand.
''Eh?''
''It's exactly what you heard, you will be reincarnated'', Delarossi stretched his arms to his sides, opening them and engulfing Garrick, who was motionless, ''It's a shame you'll have to get involved in this in my place, but I hope you can fulfill your mission, my sweet child.''
He continued to hug Garrick, who opened and closed his lips several times before finally managing to ask: "What the hell do you mean by my mission?"
"I'm afraid I won't be able to tell you about these things now, and therefore you can only know one thing: the path will be hard once again, but you must persevere and free us from this infinite prison," Delarossi said, tightening his hold on Garrick even more, "Our hopes are completely on you, we hope your performance surpasses his..."
At the same moment, Garrick focused all his thoughts on one thing and tried to understand what the god was telling him.
"You must fight fate itself. There is no other viable choice. Unfortunately, you are the last resort we have at our disposal at the moment, trapped in this trick for eternity, done by who knows what or who..."
The gentle tone of Delarossi's voice turned into a melancholy and dramatic one, as tears streamed down his cheeks and fell under Garrick's hair, who was deep in his thoughts.
"What the fuck should that mean?", he asked Delarossi again, a shocked expression on his face.
But subtly...
"Keough"
A headache took over Garrick, and it was so bad that he felt like his head would burst into smithereens at any moment.
The boy was no longer sure if that guy was really Delarossi, it could just be a hallucination made up by his brain or some other crazy god playing with his head.
"Please, what is that supposed to mean? Just answer me that..."
Garrick asked the thing, his vision becoming more and more blurry as the seconds ticked by.
Delarossi remained silent, his tears now turning red and his eyes glowing yellow as he tightened his grip around the young man even more.
The muscles in Garrick's body began to throb and ache, his bones snapping with strange crackles and his breathing becoming heavier and heavier. It was almost as if he were dying all over again, only less painful than his earlier try.
"Don't trust anyone who claims to be a deity and, above all, look for people who can accompany you on this journey."
Once again, he fell silent as Garrick groaned and writhed in pain in his arms.
"And don't mistake us for any of those mere pathetic deities, we'll try to help you in any way we can", Delarossi added in an apathetic tone.
'Why does he refer to himself with 'us' every time?', Garrick thought inwardly, before fully surrendering to the pain spreading through his body.
Then the god that was in the form of a child, gestured one last time to Garrick.
"If you want the truth of everything our encounter to where your life is now, then we recommend that you work harder than ever to strengthen yourself."
"W-what..."
"We hope that you will be able to fulfill what we so desire and that the strings of fate will not limit you once again. We have high expectations and hope for you, last champion and king of the ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇, Garrick C. Potter."
"Stop talking nons..."
Garrick was unable to finish his speech as he completely disappeared from the hall.
His world went black. He disappeared, and his senses followed what had happened to his body.
The figure looked at the gray particles flying through its arms, and joining the mist that surrounded the entire place, with a smile on his face.
"Once again it's all up to you on…", he said softly, "Good luck on your journey, boy. Everyone's fate is held in your hands."
....
"We hope you conclude it for real this time."