Lord Of The Mysteries: A Slug of Time

Pressing the Fool Uniqueness against his face, Klein's vision was suddenly shrouded by a thick greyish white fog, the Fog of History itself that had been realised around him displaying events of the time, having long since passed, as well as those of a time having yet to take place. 

Immediately, Klein felt his body disassociate into innumerable worms of spirits, instantly curling around the illusory faceless mask that had begun to fluctuate, constantly shifting with respect to the outline of his face. On the other hand, his consciousness and sense of self he carried was stretched within the fog of history, extending from a time beyond the first epoch, as well as the 5th epoch that have yet to take place. 

Under such extreme contraction and expansion of his very mind, Klein felt himself reaching a state of disarray unable to distinguish fake and real, form coherent thoughts or make sense of anything. His mind was being split apart over and over, causing his body, the cluster of maggots surrounding the fluctuating mask to tremble. 

The Fog of History began to ripple, as Klein reached a state similar to when he was advancing to the Sequence 1: Attendant of Mysteries. His thoughts as well as his sense of self was completely dispersed, eventually stretching beyond the boundaries of the Fog of History, spreading outwards. 

It continued to extend, soon enveloping the Spirit world, a portion of the astral world and even the entire real world!

Every Being has Divinity.

Klein suddenly felt himself existing in the bodies of many, within every human, every animal, the various Mythical Creatures, insects, pesticides, birds, within every living creature. As such, his mind tethered on the verge of complete dissociation.

At the same time, there were little specks of light scattered within the Fog of History, dwindling with the ever advancing arrow of time, flowing parallel to the River of Fate. These specks of light represented Klein's tethering self, almost on the verge of total loss.

Suddenly, the Fog of History of this time "rippled", as it was penetrated by a yet-to-occur history, this "ripple" spread to the River of Fate, as well causing distortion, momentarily halting the Hand of Clock, signifying the march of Time.

The little specks of light that were scattered aimlessly, suddenly began to gather, gently swaying towards a certain portion of the Fog of History that has yet to take place, at the same time, these specks of light flowed in the trajectory of a new distributary realised in the River of Fate, and departed from the Clock resting within a new time.

As the specks of light gathered together forming a sphere of light, a scene flashed past them. The scene depicted a man, who sat on a wooden chair, his figure enveloped by the crimson light filtering through the window. In front of him was a table, scattered with papers and draped with blood and ink shimmering in crimson next to a brass revolver. A notebook laid wide opened in front of the man, a set of words written in loenense laid bare.

"Everyone will die, including me."

The man's head hung low at his chair, crimson silently dripping from his temples, dying even his black hair. His brown eyes were wide open, lifeless, while the crimson light gave a faint outline of the grotesque wound on his head. It was a hole in between his temples, from which blood mixed with brain matter escaped.

Suddenly, the lifeless corpse twitched before jolting awake. The blood dripping from his temples halted, as the wound itself squirmed, slowly healing. The lifeless eyes of the lone man in the relatively small room seemed to regain focus.

This was the day Zhou Minguri had transmigrated into the Body of Klein Moretti, drawing the Fool Arcana card, embarking on a new journey, like the Fool standing on the cliff's edge looking over at unknown horizons, innocent and unaware of what might lay ahead.

The sphere of light became brighter, illuminating more scenes within the fog of history, reflecting the tributary of the river of fate, tangling with the distant time of one of the many futures.

More and more scenes flashed past the increasingly bright sphere of light; when Klein met the Nighthawk Dun Smith, Daly Simone, and Leonard Mitchell. The scene of when Klein himself, became a nighthawk, reading Roselle's diary page, foretelling his sorrow of not choosing the Seer, Apprentice or Marauder pathway.

The scene of when he became a Beyonder of the Seer pathway, drinking the Sequence 9 potion, hearing the mad raving of "Hornacis Flegrea…", having no clue of its meaning. His life as a Nighthawk was conjured within the Fog of History, investigating the Antigonus family notebook, playing cards with his fellow colleagues, dealing with madness and insanity of this world, learning about Mysticism from his teacher, Old Neil, eventually also facing the old man's death.

"We are guardians, but also a bunch of miserable wretches that are constantly fighting against dangers and madness."

Eventually, this chapter came to a close, with Klein, his Captain Dunn, and his friend and colleague Leonard, risking their lives, preventing the True Creator's descent, saving Tingen at the cost of Klein and Dunn. Yet, fate played a joke, a cruel one, as Klein was revived once more.

Thus began the long journey, a legend laid down by a "Fool". Travelling, meeting various people, forming friendships, loose bonds, advancing along the Seer pathway, acting, digesting, all while trying to find a way back home. A home he had never left. A truth he came to realise later in his journey.

All these scenes flashed past the sphere of light, prompting it to grow in intensity, its illumination penetrating within the river of fate, shining above the overlapping distributaries, representing two overlapping fates, as well as shining over the fleeting moments of time, that had a separate knot, a branch in its linear path. 

The Sphere of light shined brighter casting its glow onto every inch of the Fog of History, the river of fate, the fleeting time, highlighting various fragments of light, twisting and distorting, represent a conflict that stemmed from the very existence of Klein Moretti.

Klein did not belong to this era, to this time. He was someone that had transmigrated in the Fifth Epoch, living a separate life, coursing through a journey, all while striving towards a pre determined fate, he so wished to escape. This was true, it had happened, there was a corresponding section of it in the Fog of History.

Here lies the problem. This was the Second Epoch! The Fog of History highlighting Klein's journey belonged to that of the Fifth Epoch, a time that has yet to take place in this world Yet, a corresponding Fog of History of it already existed.

Not only that, there were many conflicts within the River of Fate! Klein, at his birth, was supposed to be accompanied with a black curtain, the Sequence 9 to 1 Beyonder Characteristics of Seer pathway, a fate that was supposed to take place in the Fifth Epoch.

But it could never come to fruition, as not only did the curtain disappear from Sefirah Castle, the cocoon of light holding the spirit of Zhou Minguri, had broken early due to the sudden existence of Klein Moretti—Zhou Minguri himself.

But the fate that was tied to him, had taken place. The Sequence 9 to 1 Beyonder Characteristics that were supposed to accompany his birth, had done so, as when this version of Zhou Minguri was released from Sefirah Castle, he had merged with what would have been the future version of himself, that also possessed with him the Sequence 9 to 1 Beyonder Characteristics from the Curtain.

In a twisted and unforeseeable way, Klein's fate had taken place, a destiny that was realised. At the same time, this wasn't the case as the curtain had simply disappeared from this world! A Contradiction.

The fleeting time too had many contradictions within itself. In fact, it had grown a separate branch, a new future and timeline that should never have existed in the first place.

When all these conflicts within the Fog of History, the River of Fate and the Fleeting time were realised, a "Fooling" was achieved! 

All, History, Fate, and Time were Fooled!

With the Fooling effect now achieved, the various fragments of light existing in disharmony, gathered together, forming a spectrum, allowing Klein, whose psyche had been imbued in everything, to gain an aspect of self awareness!

His stretched out sense of Self, as well as his fleeting consciousness began to contract, his torn mind regaining its rationality, as well as reestablishing the connection to his real body. 

At the peak of Hornacis mountain range, shrouded in the thick Fog of History, the cluster of maggots surrounding the Fools Uniqueness began to settle, while the fluctuating Illusory mask dug deeper, inching closer and closer to a set of almost invisible black "curtain". The Two Attendant of Mysteries characteristic!

As the Fool Uniqueness, came in contact with the Attendant of Mysteries characteristic, a bright, incandescent light erupted piercing the sky, shining over the world, casting its illumination onto everywhere, the spirit world, astral world, and even illuminating a portion of the cosmos. 

The Fool Uniqueness was accommodated!

At that moment, the sky began to shake, as from seemingly out of nowhere erupted a thick greyish white Fog, spreading onwards, covering the entire skies of the planet, as it held on top of it, an ancient majestic palace towering the very skies, the very planet itself. 

Within the Ancient Majestic palace, under a sacred large dome was the Bluish Black Door of Light, formed of countless stacked spheres of lights, each holding a transparent or translucent worm. 

In front of the Door, was the high back chair of the Fool, with the Sacred Emblem formed of a Pupil-less Eye and Contorted Lines; representing Secrecy and Change, hanging just above the chair shining brightly. 

Sefirah Castle!

With the accommodation of the Fool Uniqueness, and having an indomitable connection to the Sefirah Castle, Klein's status as a King among Kings of Angels drastically changed. With his connection to Sefirah Castle acting as the last missing Attendant of Mysteries characteristic, the Fool Uniqueness and the other two Sequence 1 characteristics came together, realising and giving birth to a deity. 

A "True", yet False deity, The Fool. 

With the birth of The Fool, the entire world was "Fooled". The various creatures that roamed the planet suddenly stopped, their expression a daze, as they stood motionless at their spot. 

This happened all around the world, and to every living and non living creature within it. Even the fierce battle between the Sanguines, Mutants and Demonic wolves had come to an abrupt pause, as the many creatures taking part in the war stood motionless at their spot, having forgotten their original goal. This affected even the Angels taking part, as the Calamity Warlock, The God of Death, God of Miracles and the Sanguine Queen too remained in daze. 

Even the Dark Angel Sasrir and the Red Angel Medici spectating the battle had went incredibly silent, with Medici completely having "paused" while Sasrir very slowly breathed out a sigh. 

Far away, in the settlement of the Demonic Wolves, a beautiful woman, wearing a plain black dress, with a thin veil covering half her face and a black sun hat resting on her head, paused her breath as her deep dark eyes became dull, while her enchanting beautiful figure remained standing. 

In the vast Astral World, Grisha smiled witnessing the projecting Sefirah Castle and the effects of the "Fools Authority". "He" suddenly chuckled, landing "His" gaze onto the Hornacis mountain peak shrouded in thick greyish fog, while silently ruminating to himself. 

You really weren't joking when you said, "My Very Existence is equivalent to Fooling History, Fate and Time."

The Hornacis mountain peak began to shake, as the illusory, translucent mask, the now accommodated Fool Uniqueness, slowly outlined a face, while the cluster of maggots twisted and tangled, reforming a humanoid body. 

In just a moment, shrouded deep within the Fog of History, stood a humanoid figure dawning a white shirt, a yellow tie and a black windbreaker, with undersides being of colour yellow. He wore plain black pants with black polished shoes, holding a silver cane in his hands, at the tip of it lay innumerable resplendent stars. 

The man had black eyes, with a very small, almost unnoticeable hint of golden yellow in them. He had black hair, ordinary features being projected by an illusory translucent mask at his face. The man's lips slowly parted, a sigh escaped as he lifted his hand, bringing it up to his face, taking off the illusory mask. 

Beneath the illusory mask lay an inconceivable endless darkness, before it got devoured by translucent worms of spirits that quickly reformed his face again. The mask, no longer displaying a face, squirmed as it began to change forms, morphing into a comically tall black top hat with yellow insides. 

The man rested the tophat on his head, as suddenly his lips curled. Still holding on to the tip of his tall tophat, the physical manifestation of the Uniqueness of the Fool, the man took a step forward, walking out of the Fog of History, his figure becoming completely visible to the real world, slowly he walked towards the edge, before bowing down.

It was a simple gentlemanly bow, a bow to the world that laid at his feet, as the man tipped his tall tophat, maintaining his smile, he spoke to no one but himself. "That went better than expected." Sighing, the man, Klein Moretti, the Half Fool, chuckled before resting his gaze onto a certain concealed land on this world. 

Within the home turf of the Demonic Wolf, the settlement that was to the Annihilation demonic wolf, suddenly appeared an unstable giant creature resembling the physiology of a 8-legged enormous demonic wolf. The Evernight Demonic Wolf that was completely disassociating, while wailing.

At that moment, shrouded in a thick greyish white fog, approached a beautiful humanoid figure.