"What just-" As he was about to voice his doubts, Tsubaki froze on the spot seeing where he was.
Once again, he was in the place known as Sefirah Castle. However, there was one major difference.
"Where is The Fool?" As he observed, The Fool couldn't be found anywhere, and by then he also noticed another detail, for some strange reason he appeared to have a connection with the place. Before he felt like he wasn't in control at all, completely powerless in this mysterious place. Now? It was different. It felt like he had power over the palace in the gray fog, almost as if it belonged to him.
"Wait a second." That's when he noticed two important details he had entirely missed while observing his surroundings, and it was staring right in front of him. For starters, he realized he wasn't seated at the guest of honor seat, but rather at the host's seat, and not just that. Right in front of him, standing in the middle of the long bronze table was what seemed to be a small vial, containing a strange liquid inside, and by its side was a note. In it in big capital letters was a single message.
"Drink It."
"..." His train of thought stopped for a moment due to the stupid simplicity of the message.
'Years of anticipation. All for a note saying to drink a suspicious-looking potion thingy?' He grabbed the small flask and in it was a mysterious liquid that was just plain bizarre. The bottom part was bubbly with a pinkish hue, reminding one of soda, while the top part turned into a dark blue that seemed to dissipate into smoke, giving it an ethereal look, and inside of it you could see what looked to be a grotesque green that reminded one of some kind of bacteria.
Just from looking at it, he already knew he wasn't going to have a good time drinking it.
"Oh well. Boss orders." Taking a deep breath he opened the vial, surprisingly and fortunately, the liquid didn't have a strong smell, so the next step was easier. With one fell swoop he drank every last drop of it in one go.
The taste was, somehow, even more bizarre than the appearance itself. It was a strange mix between sweet, sour and bitter that was difficult to describe in words. He could however say in one word what he thought of the drink: awful.
As he finished sipping the whole thing, he waited to see if anything different was going to happen to him. After a few seconds, nothing happened and for a few moments he thought this might be some sort of twisted prank pulled off by the mysterious being.
And that's when it happened.
"Ugh!" It was a brief dizziness followed by excruciating pain. He felt his body burning, accompanied by a splitting headache, feeling as if a hammer was constantly hitting his own head, turning his brain into mush. He heard unintelligible murmurs and whispers coming from all sides that kept getting louder and louder, stimulating his painful head into a state close to madness. His eyes and ears started to bleed and he felt like he couldn't breathe, his stomach churning making him wanting to vomit. He felt as if tiny worms were crawling from his veins, filling them up and making his blood stop flowing.
"A-Ah!"
'It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! Please stop! Please stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!'
He was about to lose consciousness from the unbearable pain. He was about to pass out.
He was about to die.
'No.' As he fought with his whole body to keep it awake various thoughts flashed through his mind. His previous life, his old family, his friends. No matter how much he had accepted his identity as Tsubaki, Damian was and will always be a part of him. That life he lived was something he would forever remember and care for. A life that was unfortunately short-lived for both him and his loved ones.
That's why-
"That's why I won't die from this." For his new family, for his new life. In that moment he vowed he would survive. That no matter how awful, how horrifying, how painful his new life was going to be, he would live until he really had no other option but to lay down and let the reaper do his job. And no weird looking liquid would be the cause of his demise, his pride wouldn't allow it.
"C'mon, it's just pain. You can do this."
As his thoughts started clearing, he withstood the agony as best as he could. Luckily, with time the sensation resided, he felt the headache passing, the whispers being silenced, the bleeding stopping, and the worms calming down.
"Wait, worms." He looked at his arms and was surprised to see what looked to be giant slugs walking inside his arm. As the worms stopped moving, it felt like they were slowly disappearing. Tsubaki couldn't help but grimace at the sight, what's worse is that he felt like the worms were an active part of his being.
"Just what the heck did I drink?"
"A concoction of my making prepared especially for you." Startled by the sudden voice, he looked left and right for who might have said that. Only to look upwards and be greeted by a familiar cryptic smile.
"Hi." The foggy figure said, although he couldn't recognize the person' face due to it being shrouded by mist, he already knew who it was.
It was The Fool.
"Seems like everything worked out. As expected from my chosen successor." He said in a tone that spelled 'just as planned'. A tone that made Tsubaki glare furiously at the entity.
"…Hey, Mr.Fool?"
"Yes?"
"Can I punch you?"
"Sure."
Without thinking twice he aimed a straight jab with his right fist at the smug figure's face. However, as his fist touched their face, it distorted in an almost comical way and instead of feeling anything solid, his hand got through it as if only touching smoke. In fact, it wasn't 'as if', it was smoke.
"It won't work though." The Fool answered cheekily, making the already angry Tsubaki even angrier. Retracting his hand he saw the smoke gathering again to form the figure's enshrouded face.
'Is this guy made of fog or something? If that's the case, why can I clearly see his clothes and that annoying smile of his?' He thought, taking a second to notice The Fool's clothing.
He wore clothes that would be typical of a magician, with a top hat, a black overcoat over a tuxedo, jet-black pants and shoes, a white undershirt under a black tie and a stylish purple scarf. It was all quite fancy, making him look like a Victorian age gentleman, the cane with the silver decorations at the top and tip being the thing he found to be the most expensive.
In his estimations the silver in the cane was genuine, making it probably heavy in the hands of a normal person, but the perfect weight for someone with a more strong build, though not necessarily athletic. It could even be used as a weapon if his observations are accurate. The thing could probably go for between 10.000 to 35.000 ryo depending on the buyer.
"Stop thinking about selling my cane! It's precious to me and you can't have it!" He said in mock-offense towards me. Though that reminds me…
'How was I able to accurately know how much his stupid cane would go for?' In fact, he noticed how he could analyze its minute details, and even to a certain extent make out what it was made of and its potential uses.
"It's not stupid…"
"Hold on. What is going on here? Why do I feel so…healthy?"
He noticed after a few seconds that he never felt better in both of his life's. His head was clear, making him feel like he could process a bunch of information at once without any problems. Also when he tried to punch The Fool, he noticed that he had a lot more strength, in fact, he was sure that punch could break someone's nose. And he was only four for God's sake!
"Since you're done trying to hurt my face and feelings, allow me to explain. The potion you drank is known as a Beyonder potion."
"Beyonder?"
"That's right. A Beyonder is, to put it bluntly, a superhuman. Not in the same sense as ninjas, as they use chakra to be able to pull off those feats of them, no. You're a genuine superhuman, as in, your literal DNA has been changed and you turned into one."
The comment made Tsubaki's eyes widen. As he looked over himself again, and although he didn't feel any different, he noticed several changes in his body and thought process.
He felt physically more agile and dexterous, particularly his fingers. He also felt a significant improvement in his thinking process, he could think, analyze and learn things at a way faster rate than normal.
That's when he understood what he meant, it's not that the potion gave him superhuman abilities. The potion literally changed his whole being into that of a superhuman!
"Seriously, what the heck did I drink?!"
"That my dear successor, was the remnants of my power that I promised you." He said with the same cryptic smile as sat over the table, staring directly into my eyes as he spoke.
"What you drank was a special potion that mixed three distinct characteristics from my being into one, allowing you power over the Three Great Pathways of Mysteries."
"Pathways of Mysteries?" 'What did he mean by that?'
"Allow me to ask you a question, what do you think I am?"
'What is he…? How should I know?!'
"I'll give you a hint. What type of being do you think would be capable of reincarnating souls of dead people into babies on a parallel Earth?"
"I don't know. A god or something?"
"Bingo! Correct answer!" 'What does he- Oh.'
"You…are a god?" It's not that he didn't believe in the being, but him being a god just felt so weird. Just in what world would a god act so casual?
"Yes, I am indeed one despite your doubts. A very powerful one, mind you."
"...How powerful are we talking about?"
"I am considered a Great Old One, and one of the three pillars of the universe. Making me essentially one of the three strongest beings in existence."
'...Ain't that something?'
"And you want me to succeed you?"
"Yes."
"Why?" The figure stared at him for a few seconds before smiling imperceptibly.
"Guess." The answer couldn't help but make him frown. Was he seriously going to leave him in the dark without any knowledge when he essentially forced him to drink a potion that nearly killed him? And what about the enemy he is supposed to defeat?! Isn't he going to give him at least a small hint on who or what it is? In fact, if he is so powerful why couldn't he do it himself?
"To answer all your questions. Yes. No. And unfortunately, I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because I am already dead."
…
"I am sorry?"
"You heard me. I am dead. D. E. A. D. Dead."
"But then…How are you talking to me?"
"I told you before, didn't I? The potion you consumed had the remnants of my powers. The 'me' you see is a mental imprint left behind by the characteristics in the potion. In other words, the 'me' you're talking to right now are the few leftovers of my conscience given form. Not really me."
'...How can- No. You know what? I won't question it. I'll just file it in the 'bullshit powers' file in my brain.'
"See? You're starting to get it."
"Get what?"
"That the more you question things without knowing anything, the less sense they make."
"And I suppose you will explain things to me so I can actually make sense of them?"
"Eventually."
" sigh I suppose this is the best I am gonna get out of you."
"Good to see you're learning."
'...I don't care if he's dead. By the end of all this I will find a way to punch him.'
"Good to see you're motivated at least."
"Can you at least explain what powers the potion gave to me?" 'Or are you going to keep acting like a cryptic bitch?'
"No cussing. Also everything in due time, for now you should go back to reality. You don't want your parents to find out you conducted some strange ritual while they were out now, do you?"
'...Dammit. Why does he have to be right?'
" sigh Fine, but you better answer my questions next time."
"Heheheh."
'Tch. Damn him and his pompousness.'
"Anyway, how do I go back?"
"That's simple. All you gotta do is cut your connection to this place."
'My connection?' As he mentioned that, Tsubaki realized what he meant. At the start, he felt a certain feeling related to this place, it felt almost spiritual in a way, as if this palace answered to him and him alone.
With a simple thought, Tsubaki got a hold of said feeling. He could feel his connection to this place as if it was a thread which he was holding, it felt like the mental version of a simple tug. Then with a mental motion, he let go of the thread. As he did that, once more the gray fog enshrouded him. This time he didn't close his eyes as he witnessed the fog consuming him, and just as easily in a couple of seconds, dispersing.
To no one's surprise, Tsubaki found himself back in his room, in the same place he was in when performing the ritual.
"...I suppose I should clean this up." Tsubaki without a sound started cleaning the place. Afterwards he ate his dinner, brushed his teeth and subsequently went to sleep. As he laid down in his bed, he played out the moments in the gray fog in his head, thinking them over.
'Just what does this all mean? The potion, The Fool's goal, gods, Beyonders, just what could this all mean?' He asked himself, despite knowing there was going to be no miraculous answers or epiphanies awaiting him.
'I shouldn't rush this. If there is one thing I learned throughout the years is that learning takes focus, dedication and most of all, patience. I won't get all the answers I seek at once, so for now I should wait and watch.'
With these thoughts he went to sleep, while noticing a strange sensation in his being. As if he had become a bit more 'whole'. He didn't know why, but the answers could wait until tomorrow.