Lord Of The Mysteries: A Slug of Time

Night had come early today. 

The crimson moon was tucked behind clouds, dampening its illumination, on the city hidden in the Northern Continent. Its soft light highlighted the city's serenity, serving as the moment of calm for the residents. 

The entire town, a population of over 500 people, carried the same expression of reverence, walking in unison, slowly approaching the beautiful, reposed structure at the middle of town. The shrine of the Goddess of Misfortune. 

Each and every person, regardless of age, gender, and social status, gathered at the shrine ignoring the coldness of the night, for it did not matter in the face of piousness. Few individuals walked ahead of the gathering, distinguishing themselves from the crowd. These people stood on the base of the shrine, its floor made of black cobble, as they silently made various hand signs, directing the crowd into a proper formation. The people naturally obeyed without making any hindrance. Within just a few moments, the crowd rectangular manner before the shrine. 

"Now we shall all pray, with open hearts, in a single chorus." Said a man dawned in a pitch black cloak, his facial features being wrinkled and covered with a grey beard, and a head of similarly coloured hair. His tone delivered a great sense of affirmation mixed with the wisdom of an elderly individual. 

Hearing him, the people all let out a loud sigh of relief and readied themselves. Clasping their hands, they closed their eyes while a cold breeze swept the city, fluttering the varying their hair, and sending chills while forming goosebumps on their skins. 

As their eyelids shut, darkness dawned, and their lips parted with a sound, soon aligning as one chorus, resonating through the surroundings. 

"An Existence from a Bygone time;

"The Lady of Concealment; 

"Herald of Misfortune;

"Mistress of Repose and Silence."

Almost immediately, a feeling of nostalgia washed over. With it came serenity, repose, silence curtaining every ear, the ground beneath seemingly stretched away from the people's feet, gravity no longer displaying any effect. 

Their spirit bodies themselves began to float away, stretching towards the sky, reaching an infinite height embraced by darkness. One man among many, fluttered open his eyes, his sight greeted with the embodiment of the unknowable. He could not feel the ground beneath or see the sky above, he could not feel his hands, neither his legs, his heartbeats became audible, his mind grew faint. 

Then, a figure appeared before him. She was a woman of fair skin, with shoulder length blonde hair, blue hazy eyes that reflected the nothingness of surroundings. Instantly, a gasp parted from the man's lips. 

The beautiful figure of the women that only existed in his eyes, presented a beautiful smile, a charming smile, a simple smile. Tears began to flow from the man's eyes, before a muffled cry escaped. 

It wasn't just one, but many. 

The beautiful chorus of prayers were followed by, soft, almost dream-like cries. Tears fell on the ground, dissolving into the soil. Many dropped to their knees, hands covering their faces. The young ones simply stood motionless, watching over the emotional adults, some even providing warm, comforting embraces. 

It was a strangely peaceful moment. The burden their hearts secretly carried was being slowly released. 

The long night went on, the cold, but lively environment remained. All within the city tucked deep within, embraced by the darkness and serenity.

A gift offered by the night, to sweep away all hardship, carried by the cold wind. 

The Winter Gift festive came to an end. 

…

Sitting in a rather dark room, only faintly illuminated by the crimson moon, Klein and Amanises breathed out a sigh, watching as the Winter Gift festive came to a close. It went just as they expected—without a hitch. 

"I was actually worried something might go wrong but it seems luck is on our side." Klein said, reclining in his chair he had brought into Amanises's room. Amanises herself laid down on her comfy pillow, her ears ringing with hundreds of prayers, the piety of her believers filling her heart. 

Amanises felt more changes slowly occurring all over her body, causing her to remain silent, as she tried to digest the changes. Klein noticed this and let out another sigh, as he leaned forward patting her head. 

Amanises slightly opened her eyes, before closing them back again. This time, she did not resist his headpats. 

"You are close." Klein commented with a smile, before retracting his hand. He laid back on his chair and let his gaze wander to the ceiling. Silence dawned, neither of them spoke. 

"I have always had this thought." Amanises suddenly said, as she stood from her pillow. She looked at Klein's face, staring deeply at it. 

"You are different."

Amanises plainly stated. Klein's expression slightly twitched, but he remained silent letting her continue. "I have been in this world for years. Having witnessed various mythical creatures of my own race, and various others on our travels… and have come to notice this fact.

"The one trait common in all was greediness for power. We all strive to rise in sequence, grow stronger and rule over everything even in madness. For this, all will go to any extent, no matter the destruction, misery, sacrifices made, including themselves." 

She stated all this in one, cold breath. She has matured… Klein thought as a smile formed on his face. He was understanding where this friend of his was getting with this. 

"This isn't the case with you… you have been alive for far longer than I, possibly for as long as the ancient deities have been in this world. Yet you still value these small things… Humanity. You still care about people, about humans, and you strive to maintain rationality even if it means losing power. You are capable of forming friendships, bonds, have faith, trust, and hope. You are different in every single way possible."

Amanises suddenly paused, letting out a chuckle, "I envy you." Uttering this, she shook her head. "I really envy you. You who have lived far longer than I ever could imagine, have a much better mindset than I could ever hope to possess." 

This… Klein's eyes slightly widened, The Amanises, or should I say, the Evernight Goddess I knew would have never said this. Almost immediately, he wanted to let out a chuckle, but instead, he closed his eyes, a sigh escaping his lips. 

Well, of course, "She" wouldn't. He opened his eyes again, his dark eyes reflecting the figure of Amanises. She is not the Evernight Goddess. She is Amanises. A normal woman thrusted into the body of a demonic wolf, a true mythical creature for merely trying to pirate a show. 

Klein waved his hand. "That's not true. You have a better mindset than when we met the first time." His first meeting with Amanises surfaced in his mind. 

Who knew I would be sitting here… in the hopes of not changing history, I ended up influencing one of the most crucial figures that shaped this world. Just as this thought crossed his mind, he witnessed Amanises break into a simple, soft laugh. 

"Our first meeting… that brings back memories. It has not been too long yet it already feels as if hundreds of years have passed since then." She paused for a moment, a calm expression surfacing as some of her fur began to detach from her body revealing beneath a fair white skin. Klein took notice of this causing his smile to widen. 

"I was very wary of you to say the least. Mysterious, powerful, knowledgeable, and amiable. You were suspicious, and I was naturally scared. Less scared of being acquainted with a potential threat but more so that perhaps my first friend was just using me." Klein chortled upon hearing that. "Can't say I blame you. I would have been suspicious of myself too."

"Now you see! But regardless, it was nice to have a friend even if I could only trust him to an extent. I used to have nightmares everyday despite one of my main abilities being dreams and nightmares. Isn't that ridiculous?!" Klein noticed her extra limbs begin to retract. Those long protruding arms like paws wriggled before beginning to dissolve, slowly retreating into her body. 

"Those nightmares have long stopped since then. Yet, the memory remains, Klein. I still remember waking up, panting heavily, shaking my head, wanting to cry yet no tears were shed. Then, one day, I met a man wearing an out of place formal attire and a comically large top hat. And then those nightmares disappeared. Not like things became any better; Even though I didn't have to deal with nightmares anymore, I now had to deal with the passive troubles brought about by having acquainted myself with a trouble magnet."

They both snickered at the comment, as Amanises continued, "A lot happened. I get to be in a meeting with two of the strongest, knowledgeable figures in all of history. I came across many things, most of which, pretty much everyone in this world is likely unaware of. I became a part of an alliance looking to kill the deities and loot their corpses. I went on a world wide trip that… Well, we couldn't explore further than the northern continent, but it's fine, we have all the time in the world to do so.

"I also have worshippers now, and a religion with me at the tomb… and I am slowly regaining the very fundamentals of my existence and essence of my life. Humanity."

Amanises's facial structure slowly began to change. Her triangular face retraced and lengthened, with most of her fur either retracting and settling on her eyebrows, growing on her elongating raven dark hair or simply falling off. Her nose changed to match her fair skin, growing thin and elongated. Her cheeks protruded out and her jaw grew and turned sharp. At the same time, her lips and teeth underwent drastic changes, complimenting her growing human looks. Finally, her eye colour remained unchanged and instead, the corner of her eyes softened and grew rounder. 

"My life was flipped on its tail. Initially, I disliked this change. Yet, it was only until sometime ago that I realised how much I enjoyed it. I enjoyed adventuring with my friend, my best friend, my one and only friend." Amanises's eyes flickered as she offered a genuine, bright smile. 

Klein listened to her, feeling a flutter in his heart. He slowly got up from his seat sitting down at the ground barely a meter away from her. He took one of her hands, yes hand, in his, intertwining his fingers with her's, while witnessing Amanises' last extra limbs vanishing to make way for her human limbs. 

Klein didn't have too many words to bring out, for he had never experienced this type of situation. 

What he did wanted to utter was,

"Thank you." The words instinctively escaped his lips. Amanises maintained her smile, though her gaze slowly grew distant. Her eyes were now like that of a human's. 

She slowly moved her head looking down on their intertwined hands, weakly affirming it. 

Suddenly, she hesitated, wanting to ask a question, but afraid of the answer she might receive. Regardless, she took a deep breath and then spoke, "I have a question for you." She noticed Klein nodding. "You are not the type of person who wants to grow strong just because. Even if it may be due to master or Convergence, I just don't know… I have a feeling you have a deeper reason to want to possess the Fool Uniqueness." 

Klein's lips twitched. Shit… He hesitated for a moment, contemplating his response. 

Then he stopped thinking. He looked straight at Amanises's human face now unstiffening, hesitation was evident on his face before he replied. "… To rise to Lord of Mysteries."

"…"

For a moment, Amanises thought she had heard him wrong, causing her to become incredibly silent. Suddenly, her mouth moved as she yelled, "What?!" Klein had expected this response and therefore wasn't surprised by her tone. 

"Y-You want to become a Great Old One? But why? What need is there for you to go above the sequence?" Amanises bombarded him with questions causing Klein to grow increasingly solemn. After a while, he took a deep breath amidst Amanises non-stop questions and answered. 

"You remember when I told you about the world barrier and the outer deities?" Suddenly, Amanises stopped talking. Wait, don't tell me… Amidst her shock, Klein continued, "Well.. the truth is that, as time flows, the world barrier will corrode away as the will of the Original Creator slowly fades."

He paused looking out of the window, casting his gaze on the invisible world barrier. "Eventually, this protective barrier will shatter. The Outer Deities will invade the planet, bringing the end in passing. Some want to take back what is theirs while others simply want more due to convergence.

"In the face of such a world ending calamity, even the Sequence 0 Deities will be helpless. The Outer Deities all are Great Old Ones, with the 10 strongest in the vast cosmos eyeing this very planet we live on. Only a Great Old One could face such a disaster and hope to save anything.

"I can't sit still and let these beings destroy everything in front of my eyes. I wish to save people I care about, Amanises. That includes you too."

Klein elaborated thoroughly. Amanises silently listened to him, shocked, incapable of bringing any words. She stared at him for the longest of time, making sense of his words, tightening her grip on his hand. 

"Even… even at the cost of your life?" 

Klein's mouth slightly turned agape, before a tired sigh escaped. His lips curled up into a small smile while his eyes shuttered slightly. 

"I won't lose too much, just myself. There are always some things that are more important than others."

He slowly got up from his position, letting go of her hand. "I won't force you to walk down the same path I do. You may remain at your current level, or you could choose to advance in the future. No matter your decision, I'll respect it." Saying this, he paused for a moment, as Amanises still morphing head turned towards him, "No matter the outcome, we will remain friends… forever and ever, until death do us apart."

Another sigh escaped. The King of King of Angels walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, seemingly heading towards his. 

Amanises' head followed Klein's figure, her eyes flickering at the closed door. Her constantly deforming body began to shake, as Amanises turned her deformed head towards her window staring at the bright crimson moon. 

Maintaining her stare for a while, Amanises moved and curled her entire body. Her wolf-like sill furry legs lengthened with their hairs retracting with her fair, smooth skin

Her legs became as straight as that of humans!

What… what Do you mean by "Some things more important than others"? Have you considered that you may be important to other people like me? More and more of her fur rapidly began to fall down from her body, from her hands, legs, chest, and her back. 

You wish to save people you care about? People that you have met in a foreign world… to be able to form bonds strong enough to be willing to give your life. Just how human are you Klein? 

Her shoulders broaden before becoming slender, her long arms thinned. Her chest and her head began to be split apart as a slender neck formed in between. Her elongating, and wild hair finally settled at her knees.

You… my friend… I have no words for you. Other than… 

Her upper torso began to contract, becoming slender, forming curves. Her chest inflated outwards, forming a pair of relatively large breasts. Below her chest, a noticeable midriff formed. 

Her lower torso went through a similar change, forming hips, thighs, legs and finally a pair of soft and beautiful feet. A faint split appeared at her nether region, in between her ample thighs. 

Finally, her deformed face took shape. With it, Amanises had truly gained a humanoid form. 

Amanises felt these changes appearing all across her body. She remained in her curled up position for a while before standing up on her two legs. She easily reached a height of 6 foot, 2 Inches. She took a step forward, almost losing her balance before steadying herself as she stopped just in front of her mirror. 

She stared at her figure. Her beautiful figure. She had deep dark serene eyes, black long and wild hair reaching up to her knees, and a beautiful face with distinguished features. White, snow-like skin that contrasted the darkness around her, a pair of relatively big breasts, with deep pink nipples sticking out Her slender waist curved outwards to form her neither supple posterior granting her an overall sensual look.

I trust you.

Her rosy red lips twitched, before curve slightly, faintly revealing her pearly white teeth. Suddenly, the door to her room was flung open, as Klein walked in with a black fabric in his hands.

"By the way, I got you a gif-" His words were cut in half, as his gaze landed on Amanises fair and amazing, naked body, giving an open look to all her amazing features.

Their gazes eventually entwined with each other, their dark eyes reflected each other.