Chapter 33 – Floor 1 – Prophecy Training
Mo and Do eagerly waited outside 21's door on their tenth day in Hell. Today was the big day; today the two prophets would be getting a prophecy masterclass by none other than 21. They had heard the rumors. Every time someone met with 21, their lives would be changed forever. Secretly, they cursed at Wizard King Xie for hiding 21 from the rest of the world up until the expedition.
"Come in." 21 chimed.
"Sir, thank you for meeting with us." Wandering Sage Do went to shake 21's hand from behind his 'office' desk.
"You two are always welcome." 21 smiled.
"Tell us, what advice would you give us?" Mo inquired.
"For starters, throw out everything you ever knew!" 21 laughed.
Mo and Do looked at each other, confused.
"Your prophetic skill, Bounty Hunter's Sixth Sense, is a disgraceful prophetic skill. You two shouldn't even call yourselves legitimate prophets; your main prophetic skill is only for bounty hunting!" 21 stated coldly.
"Wow, he really is a prophet. We've never told anyone about our Unique Skill!" Mo turned to Do, impressed with 21.
Do knew 21 was the real deal.
"What would you have us do?" Do asked seriously.
"You need a real skill. Here, take this. It should suffice, for now." 21 tossed out a book from his storage ring. Mo caught it but almost dropped it.
"Art of Prophecy? What is this? This isn't a skill." Mo read the cover out loud.
"This is your new guide to life. I wrote it for you two myself." 21 boasted. Opening up the first page, Mo and Do were stupefied.
"Art of Prophecy Chapter 1:
Everything happens for a reason. From the simplest choice to the largest decisions, the Authorities have ordained our every action to cumulate into important fixed events. But, what if we could choose our own path? Prophecy at its core is a look into the minds of the Authorities. Without their interference, fixed events in time would not exist, and time itself would be nonlinear and complex.
So, how do we look into these fixed events in order to predict them? Firstly, we need to think into the minds of the Authorities. Here in Hell, there are many Authorities vying for control over our party. The First Deathless, the Queen of Heaven, Xana and Cipher, as well as other hidden Authorities; they all want something different from our party."
Mo finished reading the first portion and looked at Do, who was still reading.
"How do we look into the minds of the Authorities? Do we need a powerful skill?" Mo asked. He had never heard of such a thing before.
"Ah yes, we could do that, or we could just guess." 21 responded and shrugged his shoulders.
"Guess? Then how is that even prophecy?" Do wondered out loud, looking up from the book.
"Before we even use a skill, we need to think about motivations of the Authorities and the perceived variables in place. We cannot prophesize about things without understanding about why these events will take place."
"Interesting. What is a variable?" Mo couldn't comprehend what 21 was talking about. Why should they try to understand the outcome before they have even prophesied it?
"You seem to be misunderstanding the fundamental truth about the world." 21 lectured.
"The future is not set in stone, but it is indeed planned out through fixed events. Prophecy, by nature, can impact the future and change the variables leading up to a fixed event. The variables and outcomes need to be considered because bad prophecy can potentially change the future for the worse because true fixed events are quite rare, and if they are altered somehow, time will self-correct itself eventually." 21 explained.
"I've never thought about prophecy that way." Do was enlightened. All their lives, they used prophecy as a tool to catch criminals, but they never stopped to think about why the prophecies worked in the first place. This could explain why their prophecies went wrong at times; they were acting based on the projected future and didn't consider that peering into the future could fundamentally change it.
"Now, more importantly, close that book. I need to convince you more thoroughly." 21 motioned to Mo, who was looking through the prophetic book.
"Our party is in a fragile state. Every action we take could create a variable that could lead to the end of the party. You two specifically are needed to secure the future of the party."
"How can that be?" Mo asked, enthralled.
"The plans of the Authorities are for the destruction of our party. My plan is to use their plans against them." 21 got straight to the point.
"I've never heard of such a thing." Do exclaimed.
"We are just pawns, but even pawns can one day become as powerful as a knight or even a queen if given too much time to advance. Forget everything you've ever felt and thought about prophecy. I will teach you what your role is to save this party and this world."
"Teach us! Please!" Mo and Do bowed their heads to 21 reverently. If what he was saying was true, they could become great prophets like 21.
"Now, the very first lesson: Lavilin and Clico." Mo and Do looked at each other again, confused. What did that Wandering Sage and The Demon have to do with this?
"These two are the Kings on the chess board. Our goal is to clear the board so that only the two of them are left standing." 21 used the chess board on his desk to simulate their situation.
"But, why them?" Mo was thoroughly perplexed.
"Two kings can't defeat each other and will stay tied, forever. Fixed events cannot be altered, but if we trick the Authorities into think they won but actually tied, we can change the future. The plans of the Authorities will all fall if we change this game's outcome."
"But, why Clico?" Do had to ask. It was getting too confusing for him.
"Yes, what is special about Clico? Could it be that he had risen from an Auraless child to an elite Sage? Could it be that he has some hidden power or skill?
No!
I've chosen him as the king because he has a deep history with Lavilin and his twin sister Nillvia.
That's it."
Mo and still didn't understand.
"That doesn't make any sense? Can't we just kill or capture Lavilin to stop the plans of the Authorities?" Mo asked fervently.
"Lavilin will always escape and will not die. His survival is a fixed event. The Authorities will make sure of it. Our only hope is to rig the board into a tie where Lavilin is trapped between his desires and his destiny."
"I still don't really understand, but I am willing to try anything within reason." Do didn't think this was smart. If 21 knew so much, couldn't he just take the position as king himself instead of the random Veteran Sage, Clico?
"I appreciate your eagerness, but that is not the point of this first lesson. I am not here to recruit you as subordinates to do my will but to educate you." 21 paused.
"Clico is the single most important person in this party because of his history with The Demon. Lavilin is not just strong but extremely reckless and efficient. He will achieve his goal of conquering Hell as sanctioned by the scheming Authorities. His destiny is written in stone by The First Deathless. No prophecy nor variable can alter that true Fixed Event. What we can change however, is how Lavilin gets there and with whom."
Mo and Do looked at each other. The more 21 talked, the more confused they became.
"Wandering Sages Clico, Aventi, and Stern are the only three Lavilin will allow tolerate beyond a certain point. Clico in particular is the best candidate of the three because of his previous romantic relationship with the Wandering Sage Nillvia. These three variables are the only ones capable of slightly altering the fixed event. Does that make more sense?" 21 asked the twins.
"I think that makes a little more sense." Mo said, still clearly confused out of his mind.
"Wait, but if destiny is fixed, even with variables, we can't change it!" Do spoke up.
"Trust me. I have a way." 21 smiled.
"Good. Now, you two must throw out your previous notions about Lavilin. Turn your book to page 21 but don't read it aloud." 21 continued.
Mo turned the book to page 21, and his eyes bulged out of his head.
"Is this really true?" He stood up in a frenzy.
"To think that is Lavilin's true identity." Do accepted the book's contents more readily than Mo.
"Yes, continue reading the rest of the page and then, turn to the last page." 21 motioned for them to continue. Turning to the last page, it was Do's turn to be exasperated.
"This… This is unbelievable." Do looked at 21 as if he had seen a monster.
"This is the fate of the survivors and the end of the expedition." 21 said solemnly.
"How many others know about this?" Do finally understood the gravity of their situation.
"Not many. Ziphe knows. Wandering Sage Mite knows. Ex-King Job knows parts. Wandering Sage Aventi knows parts as well, and I believe there are a few others know." 21 smiled mysteriously.
"About a dozen people, including us?" Mo wondered out loud.
"More or less." 21 stayed cryptic.
He had distributed his prophetic books seemingly at random, and he had given out fractured information to different people. Some knew when they would die, some knew Lavilin's true identity, some knew the truth behind Oceanus, but no one knew the entire truth.
"Lesson Two: Save Clico." 21 stood up seeing the two brothers standing up upon learning crucial information.
"How do we save him? Is he even in any danger?" Mo asked.
"Of course, he is, turn to page 37." 21 waved them of dismissively.
"What in the world? A traitor, in our party? Shouldn't we stop them right now?" Mo couldn't believe what he was reading. There was a snake hidden amongst their ranks, waiting to take down the party from the inside.
"No, they will have their uses, for now." 21 glared at the concerned Mo.
"Our plan at the moment is to grow Clico's aura realm while preserving the core members of the party. The traitor, Lavilin, and the Administrators will target Clico because of his relationship to the past Lavilin and Nillvia as time goes on. One variable has already saved Clico thus far." 21 explained.
"Already? How? This is the only first floor?" Do was shocked.
"On the first day in the dungeon, Clico was sent deeper into the ocean than anyone else by coincidence, and if not for Wandering Sage Kiln jumping in the water to save him, he would have drowned." 21 expounded upon Clico's first 'death'.
"Clico has an unfortunate fate of being destined to die. In fact, he should have died a few times already. My intervention has stopped his fixed death so far.
Time will attempt to kill him on every Floor. Unless he survives to the true fixed event, he will continue to be targeted by fate." 21 admitted.
"Does Kiln know of the truth as well?" Mo asked.
"No, Kiln is quite skeptical of me, and the book I gave him has very shallow information. If it had too much information, he wouldn't believe me anyways. Him jumping in the water at my behest was necessary for him to believe the corresponding instructions." 21 told them.
"What was the name of his book?" Mo asked curiously.
"Kiln's Guide to Surviving Hell." 21 responded.
"Will he?" Do asked.
"No." 21 responded flatly. "He won't follow the instructions when his life is on the line later on. Saving Clico was different because he risked his life for his party leader's apprentice."
"Will we survive?" Mo didn't want to ask but did anyways.
"If you two really want to save Clico, you won't." 21 was cold to the two, and the room went silent. "Are you still willing to follow the Art of Prophecy?" 21 sat back down, and the twins lowered their heads.
"Are our lives really worth his?" Mo sat back down seeing 21 do so and Do did as well.
"It's not just your lives. By the end of this expedition, Clico's survival will come at the cost of dozens." 21's eyes were passionate yet cold.
"That would mean Clico was meant to have died dozens of times?" Mo exclaimed, following 21's logic.
"That's correct." 21 responded.
"Will you survive?" Do asked 21.
"Yes. You read the final page, right? Only I can complete the final step with the knowledge I have." He logically retorted.
"How is that fair? We die, yet you live?" Do angrily wanted to get up and leave.
"Fair? Sometimes living is worse than death." 21's eyes had flames in them.
"Do you really think I don't have a conscience? My plan will take the lives countless people, and more will follow as well as we descend deeper into Hell. For the greater good, I am not just sacrificing lives but my own soul. Day after day, month after month, I've wrestled with the fact that my unbiased plan will destroy my own heart and my soul.
Is Clico's life worth it? Yes. If we did what was right morally, all 100 of us would die before the 50th Floor. For the sake of the party, for Ryko, for reality, Clico must survive." 21 monologued. Do listened intently.
"Close that book!" 21 yelled as Mo drifted off and skimmed Art of Prophecy. Mo jumped in shock and closed the book.
"It's time for Lesson Three: Entertainment." 21 sighed.
"They weren't watching us before, but we're live now." Mo and Do looked at each other again. What was 21 talking about now?
"I only told you the truth because the cameras were elsewhere. No one else can know what is in that book. Only open it when I allow you to.
On Floor 42, the Entertainment Goddess watches the dungeon's spirits and Shades descending through Hell, and especially watches our party. Wave to the cameras." 21 waved to the ceiling manically. Mo scratched his head. Do awkwardly waved at the wall.
"Act well and as dramatically as possible if you want to survive." 21 winked at confuzzled Mo as well as the invisible cameras.