Shades of the New World

Chapter 99: Dark

"Evin, come here," Kena said. The Authorities who were not participating in the debate had gathered up and were walking outside the room.

"Are you sure you want the kid to accompany us?"

"He's a boring old man like us, besides, I need to explain some things to him," Kena said.

"Ah, that explains his boring dream," Veidrakar commented.

'?'

Evin didn't know what the Authority of Thoughts was talking about.

"You were lucidly dreaming, right? I tampered a bit with it, to see what you would create inside it, but who knew you would just stare at your sisters melting down on your face repeatedly. It even seemed to amuse you greatly, since you started grinning like an idiot at some point," the old lady explained.

"Wait, I could change stuff that was happening inside my dream?"

The old lady just shook her head in exasperation, hearing the boy's answer.

"Do any of you know where the Authority of the World of Fire is?" Evin asked. He hoped to see the man in this meeting of Authorities, but sadly, the man was not present.

"Selat? The boy was acting like a blacksmith of the Spirit Flame Tribe when I last saw him. Though I'm pretty sure he moved away from that place not long after," Veidrakar replied.

"I saw him ten years ago staying in some forest hut, suntanning buck naked," the void-eyed woman commented.

"Probably doing his cycle or something Poor Kal, working so hard in his absence," Va'eri commented.

'The Super-imposer's name must be Kal. He should most likely be the leader of the Paradra tribe,' Evin noted.

"Well, he's going to replace Selat sooner or later, so it's best if he gets used to the job," Kena said.

"Poor Kal he'll probably end up like Librack, or K'rath," Va'eri commented again and the others nodded their heads.

"Umm, Lord Kena, thanks for your help with the organization," Evin butted in the conversation. He felt that if he let these old people keep talking, it would probably take forever.

"Oh that, don't worry about it. That organization would've needed to be dealt with sooner or later. But the problem is that these guys are all professional procrastinators, so they would have waited until the last moment before they moved if there weren't anything to be gotten from it," Kena said, broadly gesturing at everyone.

"Are you sure they knew how to reincarnate by will?"

"Even if they don't, the possibility of it exists. That alone will make them a target of the Four countries.

"Who were those people, in the first place?" Evin asked, referring to the organization.

"Who knows? Two Tales and Twelve Jokes here, can probably tell you more if you wish to know," Kena replied vaguely.

Evin looked at Two Tales expectantly, but was refused.

"It's too early and too pointless for you to know though no one stops you from speculating," Two Tales shrugged.

"Oh yeah, since I've become two years older, what will happen to my perk? Will it still disappear when I'm 15, or will it stay until I'm 17?"

"It should extend till you're 17 or so, though I don't know how many days exactly," the man said after a slight pause.

'That's nice'

"What did you want to explain to me?" Evin asked Kena.

"Well, there isn't anything much, I just wanted to tell you that you're free to do anything you want without worrying about the organization. Truly, child, you've overpaid me for the things I've given you. I'd feel bad if I just left you out in the wild like that," Kena said.

Kena had actually done much more than he let on. He could've had Karan, Rith, or Ssatsko explain the circumstances, but he purposely hid them before Evin became conscious. Kena wanted to expose Evin to the Authorities, so they would know that Evin existed.

Sure, most of them would feel indifference towards the child, but being etched into the memory of an Authority wasn't a bad thing.

'Is he talking about taking care of the organization for me?' Evin only thought Kena was talking about putting the organization in a horrible spot for him.

"Anyhow, it's best if you go on your way to receive your horn. Even if the whole 7-year-old thing is a scam, it's best to not bend the rules too much," Kena said and walked away.

The rest of the Authorities walked away, except for Helain and Twelve Jokes.

"Best if you tame that darkness inside you, or might find yourself tamed," Helain said suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Evin couldn't quite hear the woman's words.

"You can use the Darkness of a Beast, do you know why?" Helain asked.

"I've actually been wondering about that myself," Evin answered truthfully. He heard from Rith, that him using the Vulpine Mother's darkness was an anomaly, and she also advised him not to rely on it.

The Cosmic herself was intrigued by the Authority's words, listening silently while being held by Evin.

"I can't be completely sure, but have you ever been insane?"

"I have In my previous life, a few dozen times, actually," Evin replied.

"Do you remember what happens when you're insane?"

"No"

"Well, there you have it. Most probably, you acted like an animal with human intelligence and body. If you keep using that World, that animalistic side of yours will prevail, or the blood inside you will start taking over," the Authority explained.

"Do you know what I could do?"

"You'll need to do a lot of thinking. First of all, what does darkness mean to you? If you can determine that, you could simply wait until you become a Lesser-imposer and work on materializing your own definition Or, you could try to tame that Beastly darkness inside you. Turn it into your own unique version. Maybe make it more human?"

"Lady Helain, what does Darkness mean to you?" Evin asked.

"Mine's very simple. Darkness means eternity. I know that many others think that it has something to do with mystery, but I just never bothered to fix their opinions Besides, eternity is a much cooler concept than mystery, no? Just think about it, the boundless, ever-expanding universe that might be littered with countless civilizations and planets and to think that more than half of it is complete darkness"

"That is true"

"Wait, how can I talk to you about those things?" Helain said suddenly, shocked by the words that were allowed to leave her mouth.

"I wasn't supposed to know of those things?"

"Technically, yeah. Who were you in your previous life?"

"Oh, I'm not from Alvox, originally. I guess you could call me a transfer spirit. I come from a different planet, or a World called Earth," Evin said.

"Oh shit, you're a goldmine, aren't you? No wonder Kena's so obsessed with you," Helain exclaimed.

"Hey, Twelve, does the Empress know about this?" the Dark Authority asked the teenage girl. Helain and Evin were still in the corridor, so Twelve Jokes was still standing near them, staring at the two.

Evin was trying his best to ignore her like Helain, but was having a hard time doing so.

"It was approved by mother, yes," Twelve Jokes replied.

'Mother? Who's the father?' Evin heard something interesting, and instantly, his mind went towards the scandalous aspect of the news.

Helain, on the other hand, was deep in thought.

"Let's go somewhere to sit down and talk, shall we?" Helain said, and the four entered a random room inside Kena's house.

"What were we talking about before?" Helain asked.

"We were talking about your interpretation of darkness," Evin replied.

"Ah, yes Well, don't be so eager to coincide your beliefs with my own. Just because I believe in something, doesn't mean you have to as well. Think about all the cult members that worship me, especially the Lesser-imposers and the super-imposers. What if I went and told them that my darkness embodies eternity, instead of the mystery and fear that they thought it represented? Will they call me a liar, or will they abandon the things that they've put their faith in for decades? And honestly, just between you and me, sometimes I'm tempted to see what happens," Helain said with a giggle before continuing: "But we still have to talk about what darkness means to you"

"I didn't have any thoughts on darkness, but lately, I've been more or less considering it as something living," Evin replied after much thought.

"Now, do those thoughts originate from you, or from that blood inside you?" Helain asked.

"Although I think that there's a lot of influence from the blood, I'm starting to feel that Darkness as something ever-changing and inconsistent. Although I think it's a bit weird to ask this from you, but do you ever look at something dark and think that there could be anything in there?"

"I agree that I'm probably the wrong person to ask this, but I do get where you're coming from," Helain nodded and asked: "But don't you think that you're kind of forcing yourself to think like that, so you can keep using the Beast Lord's darkness?"

"I have a feeling that I'll end up in a similar situation if I ever have to define my specialty with another World as well," Evin said.

"You want to say that you yourself specialize in adaptability?" Helain asked, cocking her head. After pondering over the matter for a few moments, she asked: "Well, I hate to ask this, but what kind of life did you lead before all of this?"

Evin briefly summarized his life for the Dark Authority, leaving out the details concerning the technology. Hearing the story, Helain fell into an even deeper thought. Twelve Jokes also seemed interested in the details. 

"Why not just persist on that Darkness of yours? If you're afraid of losing your humanity, just turn that animalistic Darkness more human. You think too much Hela as well," Twelve Jokes said suddenly.

"I suppose you're right, Twelve Good luck with your darkness then, Evin," Helain said with a sigh.

Evin felt like he had finally found a clear path to take with this problem of his. Feeling opportunistic, he decided to squeeze some more info from this senior of his.

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