6.4

Rey closed his eyes. In theory he didn't mind witnessing what death is, he thought. "Turn your back and walk... you'll be able to avoid giving him an answer as to whether I'm rebellious or submissive towards him. Even if that means walking to the most painful destination, it will only make me someone stronger." Making an expression of understanding what was happening, he turned around and, using his means, unraveled that world of the past that was embodied in the present to march back to where his master Heroclades was, who was still telling the story of the past to Dante and Jhades.

"I have no words," the Great Wise Wizard said to himself after breaking his smile and opening two pairs of cold, expressionless eyes as he looked, shattering into pieces, at countless futures that could have been created. "Perhaps all I know is not enough... Without a variable, my calculations will not be able to control you in this, your new life, on this plane or any other. One thing is clear: first I have to find the reason that makes you an irregularity before I eliminate you. The question is how many pawns will I have to sacrifice to get the answer? If you decide to go rogue, I'm afraid a lot. Planets, worlds, planes... but still it would be a necessary price to pay. For now, I must lay my hand to make enemies to slow your pace. Sicken your flesh, your blood and bones... You will also carry with you the curse of having eyes different from those of any being there is and ever will be. Eyes that you will have to show to anyone you wish to look at. That infinite Pythagorean star, floating on a white background around your pupils surrounded by a circle, will be the cause of countless damages to the living beings of the three planes, the symbol of vicious destruction and true evil."

It could be said that everything seemed normal, but the world the Great Wise Wizard saw no one else could. He saw how the little wolf cub, together with the vampire, observed the attitude of his brother as soon as he had finished talking to him. He also saw how the threads holding Rey's limbs caught fire until they cracked and broke into a thousand pieces. With each step, the body that carried a first name and not a last name took control of an unstoppable flame that surged in his heart, unlike the other two.

...

With the conclusion of his epic narrative, as well as the appearance of Mijan and Katherine, Heroclades took the opportunity to mention the name of his distracted disciple.

"Rey."

The little boy looked up, like someone returning to the present.

"Come on... Say goodbye to your siblings. You won't see them again for a long time."

The little boy's teacher looked hurried, he had a tone of someone who wanted to get ahead of the darkness before he ended up in any more entanglements.

Katherine, who was still walking around with her lower garment pulled to one side and traces of wetness still dripping down her legs, looked at Jhades and signaled. Mijan, trying to dress in his one-piece one-piece suit, looked at Dante and waved. They were teachers too, but no words seemed to come out of their mouths that had anything to do with the little white-eyed boy.

Knowing why they were distancing themselves, Rey lifted his gaze to the faces of the two individuals who silently despised him. He then looked at his brothers and could realize how right his master's words were. "They are my brothers now, but after the training, maybe they will no longer be my brothers," Rey thought somewhat overwhelmed. Thereupon, he said aloud:

"Dante, Jhades. It's no big deal, but... I hope to see them again...".

Both the vampire and the wolf cub felt somewhat uncomfortable with the words spoken by the little white-eyed man. With a grimace as a smile and farewell, the two brothers, who did not know what to answer, turned their backs to Rey and marched their separate ways without even looking back.

The black-skinned old man watched as the words the little irregular had spoken caused the threads, which no one else could see, to tighten, shrink and twist as they said goodbye to their brothers. The threads that bound the life of every mortal, those that connected those who existed and ended in the abode of the three spinners who embodied birth, life and death. Though they tightened, shrank and twisted, none could break, but they did come close to giving way, a situation that gave the old man organizing his beard pause for thought. "I suppose I needn't have to rely on something faulty if I can control everything around it first. Although with threads it won't be the best way. I'll have less to worry about if that luck-puller better tie up your fate as your wife in the future," he said to himself. The old man visualized in his mind a little girl with dark skin and violet eyes, who was busy studying and trying to learn what her sisters, who were dressed in long black dresses, were telling her.

...

In the meadow, under the intense brightness, Rey and Heroclades were walking on the opposite path that would take them to the other side of the lake and the mountains. Heroclades had chosen the longer path because the conversation with his disciple would be just as long. Now that he thought about it, it was the first time the two of them would be alone for an indefinite period of time. He was also free to teach him whatever he wanted and understood to be necessary. As his master, he had the right to corrupt him without facing any consequences.

"Rey..." he began to speak aloud, in a firm and calm tone, but stopped himself.

He was afraid of being disappointed. Perhaps it was too soon. "What child could pay attention to the dull words of an adult?" he thought. "Still, why not try?" he answered himself to continue speaking:

"Now that you know how to talk. I have things to tell you... As a teacher, I'm not to scold you for something I didn't teach you in the first place. So perhaps, most of the time, you will find me talking to you about things and stuff. I hope you don't mind. To be honest with you, this is one of those moments... In the past, in my golden age, I had many friends who today have their names plastered in the history books. In the beginning they were nobodies, but they worked hard and went on to get what they wanted most. They sought recognition and immortality. They got what they longed for. Their names became immortal and their teachings will have the recognition of being passed on for thousands of years and more to come. But if they had preferred to have a small part of those years added to their real lives, they would still be with me. Yet they decided otherwise. They worked hard without regretting it for even a second... they respected their convictions to the end, even though irremediably the fruit of their labor was the main reason why they ended up dead. Tell me, based on the story I have told you, can hard work do everything?"

Heroclades was surprised to finish his story without any interruption. Incredible as it seemed to him, his disciple kept silent until he reached the end. Not to mention that, during the story, which sounded dull and somewhat rushed, he seemed to have paid as much attention as someone his age could. The tan-skinned fellow believed that, although the son of his first disciple could be considered a newborn in terms of lived experiences, he had the eyes and aptitude of someone who understood the power that exists in not rushing into decisions and learning from mistakes. Perhaps I was giving him more credit than he deserved, but if he thought about it, Heroclades could come to such a conclusion. "He did not rush into making decisions, for, if he had been, he would have asked questions that would lead to nothing," the old man thought. "He also learned from his mistake because he did not interrupt me again as he had done before to talk to the old man, and this time he listened until the end... He takes his time to answer." Heroclades turned slightly to look over his shoulder at his disciple's face. "Indeed, he has the look and posture of a person so talented that he appreciates the company of other individuals more talented than himself and politely handles his own emotions."

On the other hand, Rey was silent, and ignoring the fact that he was being studied by his teacher, he set his mind to thinking: "Your first question. Even if it is based on a personal story, it is just as Ehimus described it... he will try to determine if I really have an idea of what I am talking about. Being right doesn't mean being right in the face of a different point of view...", thought the little boy to answer his teacher who was looking at him as he walked:

"Hard work can do anything". It is a rather ambiguous phrase for people who ended up dying without enjoying the fruit of their efforts. What a phrase that is: "Hard work can do anything". Was it said by one of your friends? What a story that one too. Did you make it up? Everything so short and ephemeral. An eternity in a few seconds, at the same time, a few seconds in an eternity. But it's not something you made up, it was a story you shortened by telling me. Your friends' lives could not have been as insignificant and short as you mentioned. The phrase... neither. If you said, "If you put your mind to it, hard work, at all times and throughout a lifetime, will serve to have the possibility of being able to do it all," it might be true. But, even then, it would still be a small phrase. What do you think about it?

Heroclades heard words that he did not believe could come out of the mouth of someone so small and with so little experience. Rey had not spoken for the sake of speaking, but even handled his emotions in the most appropriate way as he sought to explore and point out other points of view. Hero even came to believe in the possibility that his disciple retained some of his past life knowledge, but such a probability was slim. Had he had his memories, he might have elaborated a better answer or even told a better story about his friends. Still, the words "ambiguous" "invented" "ephemeral" "eternity" "seconds" "insignificant" were words that The Great Magician could not have taught him, for he had no need, for they served no purpose. Words that perhaps he had surely heard from someone else. But how, from whom and when?

"Rey, do you even remember what happened around you when you were in your mother's belly?"

The tan-skinned lord asked the question because he knew there were special cases, creatures who had consciousness in the mother's womb and could learn, well, his own sister had been born grown up, with clothes, armor and wisdom, so what was he to be surprised about? Not only did that support his conclusion, but he also remembered that Mijan's artifact, called XWZ, said that Rey was the only awakened individual inside the womb. And, last but not least, when he had been recapitulating on the arrival in Paradise, his disciple had been the only one who had shown no interest in listening further.