My existence was clouded with misunderstandings and lies.
This much was clear to me.
I had already somewhat come clean to Leon, Delilah, and Aoife. However, that wasnât enough. I knew that there was no longer a need for me to hide any longer. There was no point, and it was, in fact, just hurting me at this point.
"...I am not someone who belongs in this era."
The words flowed smoothly from my mouth. I didnât feel any relief when saying the words, nor did I feel a weight lifted from my chest.
This just felt natural.
I had now reached a point where I no longer cared to keep my âsecretâ a secret.
But of course, I wasnât stupid enough to completely come clean in front of them.
After allâ
[â Main Quest Activated: Prevent the Calamities from awakening or dying.]
Aoife K. Megrail: Awakening
: Progress - 80%
Kiera Mylne: Awakening
: Progress - 75%
Evelyn J. Verlice: Awakening
: Progress - 69%
Staring at the screen that appeared before me, I knew that I couldnât completely come clean before them.
âI expected that the first vision would depict what would happen once the meter reaches 100%; however, itâs very clear that itâs not the case at all.â
I felt grim at the realization.
I had always worked around the quests to keep the meter to the lowest, in preparation for the first vision, but now that I understood what the first vision entailed, I realized that I had been misunderstanding the entire situation from the start.
And at the same time, I started to feel lost.
If the first vision didnât refer to the calamity meter, then what exactly was the calamity meter...?
Looking at the three of them in front of me, staring at me in confusion as they each mumbled things like, âWhat do you mean you donât belong to this era? What are you talking about? Why arenât you saying anything...?â I held myself back from coming completely clean as I struggled to understand the meaning behind the calamity meter.
If the meter wasnât related to the first vision, what was it related to...?
The Outer Beings?
The thought made my heart pause as I looked at the three of them, and as I saw their confusion grow, I spoke.
"...Have any of you experienced anything weird lately?"
"What?"
Kiera was the first one to speak, her brows furrowed extremely tightly as her crimson eyes locked with mine.
"Why are you suddenly asking a question like that after what youâve just said? What do you mean by youâre not from this era? Are you fucking around with usâ"
"Iâm not."
I cut Kiera off, my expression as serious as it could be.
"Iâm asking you because itâs important."
I settled my gaze on both Evelyn and Aoife.
"Have the two of you been experiencing anything weird lately...? Or just anything in general. This is an important question that I need to ask in order to come clean to you guys. I need to understand something."
The three of them frowned, their heads turning to look at each other.
Their confusion was all too clear, and just when I thought I wouldnât get anywhere, Aoife spoke.
"I hear voices in my head."
The room plunged into silence, all heads turning towards Aoife as she sat in her seat, eyes firmly locked in my direction.
"...Iâve been hearing voices in my head for quite some time. Iâve been trying to ignore them, but theyâve been growing stronger with each passing year. Is this what youâve wanted to hear?"
There was no change in her expression despite what she just revealed.
I was taken aback by her honesty, and for a moment, I didnât know how to react.
But just as if that wasnât enough, Aoife continued,
"The voices want me to kill you."
A strange tension filled the room shortly after.
One that I felt all too clearly as Aoifeâs gaze flickered over me. For a brief moment, it felt as though she might lunge forward and strike. My body tensed, and my hands pressed firmly against the wooden armrests of the chair.
But thenâ
"Wow, Iâve always known you were a crazy bitch, but not to this extent."
Kieraâs voice disrupted the tension, her gaze alternating between the two of us before settling over to Aoife.
"...You really hearing voices?"
Aoifeâs eyes narrowed as she stared at Kiera. She didnât reply and just turned her attention back to me as she muttered, âIs this enough?â
I nodded before looking at Kiera.
"You?"
"Me...?" Kiera blinked her eyes, confused. But then, as if realizing what I was referring to, Kiera shook her head. "No, Iâm not as crazy as her. I donât hear any voices in my head."
"You donât...?"
"No."
"Hmm."
I pinched the bottom of my chin, turning my attention towards Evelyn, who equally shook her head.
"No, not me."
âSo neither Kiera nor Evelyn is experiencing the same thing that Aoife is? Is her problem related to her mental problems, or is there more to it?â
My head throbbed as I thought about the situation.
Of course, things werenât going to be easy. Just when I thought that the situation was getting more complicated, Kiera suddenly spoke again.
"...I donât hear voices, but... hmmm." Her brows furrowed for a moment as she hesitated. In the end, however, she set her sights on me. "This whole situation... it feels like dĂ©jĂ vu. Like Iâve seen this happen before, somewhere in the past. Almost like a vision. I donât know... maybe Iâm just losing it."
"And you called me crazy..."
"Oy."
Kieraâs head snapped in Aoifeâs direction as she sat in her seat with her arms crossed, staring in Kieraâs direction with her brow raised.
I ignored the two and looked at Evelyn.
She shook her head again.
"No, nothing. I really donât have anything."
"I see."
Evelynâs percentage was the lowest, so it was possible that she never took notice of it. At the same time, however, I started to think about the things that Aoife and Kiera had both revealed to me.
Neither was much, and it only served to add to the confusion, but they both provided useful information.
âI should take note of this for now and think more about it later.â
Turning my attention back towards them, I spoke up again.
"I donât think any of you is crazy. In fact, thereâs a high chance that what youâve experienced is real, and something is residing inside of your body."
A tense silence followed my words as the three girls stopped.
I could see the confusion in their eyes as they looked at me. I could also see the skepticism in their gazes, and knowing this, I finally came clean to them.
"I said that I donât belong to this era, right...? Thatâs not a lie. I donât belong to this era. I belong to a far older era. One where... the seven unrecorded existed."
"...."
"...."
"...."
By now, the silence in the room had grown heavy, almost suffocating, as the girlsâ expressions failed to mask their shock while they stared at me. But as if the shock wasnât enough, I added fuel to the fire.
"I am one of those seven unrecorded. To be precise, I am Oracleus."
If the silence a moment prior was suffocating, the current silence was different.
It was...
Smothering.
The girlsâ eyes were wide, their mouths opening and closing repeatedly as they struggled to come to terms with my words. I could understand their reactions. Leon wasnât any different in the past.
This was why I decided to give them a little bit of time to recover from the shock.
Thankfully, it didnât take long for them to recover as Evelyn bit her lips, her voice the first one to drift across the room.
"...Youâre not joking, right?"
"Iâm not."
I turned towards Leon, who had been present the entire time. He sat by his seat, his expression stern and cold as he looked back at Evelyn before nodding.
"Heâs... likely not lying."
"Likely not lying? Are youâ"
"Thatâs not important right now."
I cut Kiera off before she could go into her usual rant.
I wanted to make my position clear with the girls in order to make sure that all misunderstandings were cleared, and that Iâd have nothing that would cause me harm in the future.
"I am both Oracleus and not at the same time. Oracleus was me, but my memories of the time I was Oracleus are still unclear. Iâm slowly regaining my memories, but the process is taking longer than I anticipated. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that I am him, and this is the reason why I asked all of you the previous question."
I alternated my gaze between the three of them.
"...The three of you arenât normal. Although I donât know exactly whatâs going on with the three of you, I know that thereâs something that I need to be extremely careful with you three. Thatâs why you shouldnât dismiss anything that youâve noticed. Be it the voices or the strange visions you saw in the past. If you detect anything, it is best if you tell me anything and everything."
Once again, the girls went quiet.
I could see from their faces that they were struggling to come to terms with everything that I had revealed to them. I didnât blame them for their reactions.
After all, their reactions were understandable.
âI would probably react the same, if not worse, if someone suddenly came to me and told me they were a god and that something was wrong with them.â
Iâd even go as far as treating them as some sort of lunatic.
This was why I didnât push any further after I said my piece. I waited for the three of them to slowly digest the information before speaking again.
This...
It was going to be a long talk.
However, it was going to be a long and necessary talk.
No more lies.
No more misunderstandings.
I could no longer afford to be indecisive.
I knew better than anyone that from this moment forward, the true fight was going to start.
For that, I wanted to start on a clean slate.
One where I wouldnât have to worry about variables that I had allowed to grow.