Papers taped to the walls, some old with yellow stains and some as fresh as could be. Every now and then, in the grid that the papers created, there were blank spots. Some blank spots were without taint, representing a spot for something new, while some had residue, making it obvious that something happened to them. Other than the papers, the sound of eerie silence, the taste of tension, the feeling of unwelcomeness, and the scent of frustration, nothing filled the room besides a desk and two chairs.
As the Sect Leader led me deeper into the rectangular room, he gestured for me to sit in the chair facing the back wall, so I sat down. Once he also sat down and faced me, he slightly raised his hand and said, "Why has the leader of The Resistance sought me out?"
I placed my interlinked hands under my chin and eyed him with supreme confidence, "I wish to form an alliance with you."
... Silence penetrated the room, but I didn't bat my eyes with confliction. This was a show of testament. If I fell victim to the pressure then my whole proposition would seem like a joke. The Sect Leader had a dumbfounded expression on his face, not trying to hide it in the least before seemingly catching himself. He put his elbows on the desk which caused his hands to go into the air as he asked me, "An alliance? What do you mean by that?"
I raised my back and answered him clearly, "I mean an alliance. I want to enter a partnership with you. One where we are even individuals. It wouldn't be something like the Sect Faction where we would merge, but we'd still help each other out in times of need."
In response to my words, he suddenly stretched his hand out and covered his face with it before tapping his forehead with his pointing finger, back and forth. After he did this for a couple of seconds, he declared to me, "No." He stopped tapping, "I won't enter an alliance. Instead, you should merge with me as a disciple. I'm in a much higher position than you, so trying to act as an equal won't get you anywhere. You are below me, so just like any other servant, find the wealthiest master you can, wait until they have a moment of weakness, and then take their throne. In fact, I'd even help you with that. I can't be the Sect Leader forever, and as of now you seem the most apt for the position."
Hmm, what he was offering wasn't too bad of an option. But it wasn't something I was willing to take. I knew the L'Amour family was a sinking ship, and who knew how he would react once he learned that I killed his niece? Instead, I would use this sinking ship to my advantage.
Without letting his words affect me in the least, I said forebodingly, "Oh really? If I wanted to find the wealthiest master, I would've stayed sided with the Sect Faction. Let's not act here Sect Leader. I know you are struggling right now. I know that you are beginning to see the end of the line."
He raised his eyebrow before laughing out loud, "Hahaha! You're quite the jokester Quis. How could the great L'Amour Family be struggling?! In fact, I'd even say we're at our peak! It won't be long before the Sect Faction finds themself at a loss!"
Without skipping a beat I said knowingly, "It's money isn't it? Both money and resources. I know quite well that you recently made a.. big purchase that didn't turn out so well... unless your goal was to kill a few Devils. Though I doubt such a highly respected figure would make such a foolish financial choice."
Suddenly I could feel his guard rise, as he didn't let an emotion onto his face and said, "I don't know what you're referring to. And on that note, I'm running late to a meeting. I really should be going-"
"No, you should stay. I'm not trying to blackmail you, that would be ridiculous considering I have no evidence to use. And it's not as though I'm here to judge your choice, I see no fault in your ways. I understand you must have had your reasons for doing such a thing. I only brought it up to remind you that you aren't in as great a position as you claim."
He was about to say something in retort when I cut him off, "I want an alliance with you Sect Leader. I still want one despite knowing that you are worse off than the Sect Faction... Why is that?" I gave a second for him to come to a realization and then confirmed his internal thoughts, "That's right. I want to help you."
I stopped my words here, and as I did, I could feel the air suddenly shift. The Sect Leader's gaze changed from a cautious one to an... emotionful one? My mind turned blank as I tried to analyze his emotions.
'What's going on here? Why can't I read him?... No, I've seen this before. Crap. This isn't good. I'm extremely used to reading the emotions of rational people, so much in fact that almost no one can hide their emotions from me, especially in their eyes. But there was one type of person, that no matter how much I tried, I could never truly understand or read... They were the people who either got crushed under the weight of society or stood out so much that their radiance never left history books. You could call them irrational, misunderstood, perhaps even stupid, but I called them something much more fitting. Insane."
He suddenly raised himself from his seat and began pacing around the room while throwing questions at me.
"What do you mean by help?"
"I'll provide materials for you to get your clan out of this bog."
"How are you so sure that I did what you suspect?"
"It makes most sense. If they were wild Devils, they'd attack the sect, not where manpower is most centered. And since they specifically attacked the practical exam, I assume they were after the lives of the strong. And if they were crazed Devils focused on killing strong opponents, they'd just fight the Elders, but they also went after the students. They must have been contracted to weaken the Sect Faction, and you have the most motive to do that."
"What is your motive?"
"Of course I'm looking for benefits. I will be using your military in exchange for my help."
"Where do you lie politically?"
"I could go with either a sect or clan, I don't really care. As long as I'm gaining from it, it doesn't matter."
"... Finally, how do I know you can help me?"
I curled my lips and said mysteriously to him, "You'll find out this afternoon."
He came to a stop, signaling that his barrage was over. He looked at me up and down with eyes that seemed to want to pop out of his skull and then shook his head. Once he was done shaking himself, the air turned back to normal and he sat back down, "I'm sorry about that, I lost myself a little bit. Anyways... how about this? Assuming that I am hurting from this nonsensical idea you proposed, I will give you a chance. Impress me this afternoon and I will humor you. But if I don't like what I see, I'll deal with my own problems."
He stretched his hand out and I grasped it, shaking it with a merchant's smile, "You've got yourself a deal."
____________________________________________
Opcacus' POV:
What a hot day.
This was my thought as I walked into the crowd of people huddled together in the middle of a field. The sun hung overhead, making walking this long extremely taxing, but people still did it, lots of them too. It looked like almost 3 quarters of the sect showed up, even in the uncurable weather. This exemplified how important timing truly was. If they did this tomorrow, then they'd probably get half as many people to show up.
I walked through the sea of people with my figure hidden under a cloak. As I maneuvered past people, I heard the whispers of gossip.
"What a pain~ Did they really have to have us come all the way out here just for their debut or speech or whatever it is they're doing?"
"I hear you man. I'm only here because my wife wanted to see who this Quis kid was so badly. She was at the coliseum when the footage was live, and she's been entranced like a child since."
"Oh yeah! I was there too! It was crazy. If you were there, you would understand. It was breathtaking."
"I can't wait to see Quis again. I remember how he'd come to the bar and grab a beer with Beulus and Hasrem sometimes. It's a shame what happened to him, but it looks like he was able to move passed it."
"What do you mean? Did you know Quis before?"
"Of course I did! We even had a conversation before. You should also remember him. He was a victim of the boar attack that killed the Sect Leader's niece... Pulchra, that's right, Pulchra L'Amour. Well, the not-so-secret secret going around at the time was that Quis and her were in a relationship... but you already know how that all turned out."
"Yeah... I remember now. I didn't know about that second part though. That had to be rough on the kid, but I suppose he wouldn't be who he is now without it. He must be extremely strong mentally to push past that, and eventually kill a real Devil."
"Well, actually, after that whole ordeal, his personality took a huge shift. He used to be a normal kid, acting like the rest of them, but after Pulchra's death, he stopped showing up at the bar and even disappeared from the sect for a couple of months before coming back far stronger than before. You know Igmor? The guy who beat those five Elders? Rumor has it that he was actually Quis, but due to a Fruit binding him, he couldn't expose himself until just recently. I also heard that he was gone because he got kidnapped."
"Damn, he sounds like he's really been through some strenuous stuff, but I suppose all legends have a tough past. Ah man! You've just gone and made me more excited to see this guy in the flesh!"
Conversations as such could be heard in different spots over the giant wall of humans, allowing me to learn new information as I crawled forward. Soon enough. I was able to push myself to the front of the group, and what I saw surprised me, or I could say that the lack of something is what surprised me.
It was simply an empty field with no one in sight. The people around me also seemed confused considering that it was the time that the posters had advertised: just before the sun hung in the middle of the sky. It was an awkward couple of minutes spent waiting with nothing happening, and just as the wait was beginning to get unbearable, a loud deep voice boomed in the ears of everyone present.
"Legend has it that in the beginning of all things, there was nothing but a yawning Chaos until Gaia and other primary divine beings such as Eros, the Erebus, and the Abyss. Gaia soon gave birth to Uranus, who then joined with her to create offspring. They were the Twelve Titans. Then came the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones who were eventually jailed in Tartarus by Uranus making Gaia seethe with anger. Cronus, a male of the Twelve Titans, was convinced by Gaia to castrate Uranus, so he became the ruler of the Titans with his wife Rhea, one of the female Titans, as his consort."
The unrecognizable voice stopped for a moment, perhaps allowing everyone the time to comprehend what he had just said before continuing to rumble to the ground beneath us.
"Because Cronus betrayed his father, he was afraid his children would do the same, so he swallowed his offspring whenever Rhea gave birth. Rhea despised this and tricked him by hiding a child named Zeus and instead giving him a baby blanket covered with stone. Once Zeus grew up, he made Cronus vomit, throwing up his siblings. Zeus then challenged Cronus to war to be king of the gods. With the help of the Cyclopes, whom he freed from Tartarus, Zeus and his siblings turned up victorious, and hurled Cronus along with the other Titans into Tartarus. Thus the age of Titans ended, and the age of gods began."
Then another break in the dialog commenced. But this time, it was short-lived as a white smoke rained in from the sky, covering the view in front of us. Soon the smoke cleared up, exposing darkened figures within the fog. Just as the smoke was about to fully clear up, the booming voice exclaimed, "This is the story of the pantheon of Jungle Mythology gods. A story that can never be repeated, but can be represented."
The smoke fully cleared up allowing me to see the members of The Revolution spread out in front of me.
"Through the use of their avatars!"