Secrets Unveiled

Chapter 45: Secrets Unveiled

"What?" Gray was again, unsure of what to think.

Why had Casanova decided to lie to him? The man had many secrets, he was aware of it, but what could have been the reason behind that?

Franz then opened his mouth to speak. "Are you familiar with the concept of the infinite dimension that encases all dreams—The Eternal Landscape of The Begotten Self?"

Although Gray had never heard that specific name, he nodded as he was familiar with its core concepts.

'I see. So that's why Casanova hadn't spoken about the Patron Bearers.' he thought, smiling lightly. 'His specific answers and response were fabricated so that I would part with more knowledge.' he sighed inwardly. 'He has completely fooled me.'

"This will make things more brief." Franz said. "As you know, Onironauts can split their souls in smaller pieces. Thanks to their quintessence, they can subconsciously protect the pieces of their soul and 'link' them to the Eternal Landscape."

"They however, cannot transverse from their physical state just from that 'link.' Our physical plane and the Eternal Landscape are dimensions that flow separately, and the only way they can join together is when a being dreams."

"Thus, an Onironaut can gain revelations from the future, but only if they are asleep by using their dreams as portals to enter the Eternal Landscape."

"Thanks to their 'link,' the pieces of their souls are naturally brought before their most needed prophecy—one belonging to the many futures hidden inside the Eternal Landscape of the Begotten Self."

Gray joined his hands together as he was engaged in deep thought.

"Since I wasn't dreaming, there shouldn't be any possible way for me to enter that place, right?" he asked after a brief moment.

"Precisely." Franz slowly nodded. "Yet…like for Intra, you somehow can."

While Gray was grateful that his breakage of his ability's bounds had allowed him to survive, he felt that something was wrong.

Why specifically him?

How was he able to succeed when nobody else had done so?

First it had been Intra, and now it was this.

The first case might've been a coincidence, one incredibly rare, almost impossible in nature.

But two back to back?

These events could not be dictated by mere things such as luck!

It was clear, these two events must have had a correlation.

Most importantly, there was something 'wrong' with him.

The only one who could have done this…

The only one with sufficient power and knowledge enough to break all expectations, the one where even the impossible could become possible…

It was The Monolith.

But why 'Gray?'

While He was the one who corrupted him, transforming him into a Nephilim, why would he become subjected to so many of His 'perks?'

What would He gain from Gray's success?

The complete unawareness towards His intentions, the complete lack of knowledge Gray had before Him…

The unknown, the only place where all possibilities were clustered together, forming a chaotic space when all could happen rendered the situation terrifying.

"Did these real-world revelations have an impact on your psychological state?" Franz shifted in position, now resembling a psychologist.

'The splitting of one's soul while the patient is conscious might also be damaging to the psyche, after all.' He thought.

"After so many deaths; after so many injuries; after so much suffering, I became desensitized to all." Gray clenched his fists. "I became cynical in nature, so ruthless that I was at the point where I had to hold myself back to not harm others."

'So this could be the reason of his sudden change of demeanor…' Franz smiled inwardly, satisfied that those changes weren't brought by Him.

Gray continued, "The impact wasn't only mental, but spiritual too. Every time that a real-world revelation ended, an instant sense of pain came right from the insides of my Fragment, as if it were pierced by a countless army of invisible, jagged blades."

Franz's eyes shot open as he understood and unraveled the mystery hiding behind Gray!

'His Secondary Mercurial Fragment!'

'He's the reason for these impossible, real-world revelations! When one of His tendrils pierces Gray, He instills him with the ability to break through these rules of reality…!'

"I see…" Franz nodded, a drop of sweat forming on his back.

This also meant that Gray's power were now starting to become heightened by His will. Gray's changes were subtle, yet in due time, they would become immense in nature!

The most pressing question Franz Kaldiri had: Could he survive such an event or would his mortal mind and body succumb under His pressure?

Again, the uncertainty residing on him was horrific.

Gray's brows furrowed.

He did not need Desensitization to understand the subtle changes stemming from Franz!

'He's hiding something…'

Calming himself down, he continued to recall the events he had faced, explaining them thoroughly to Franz. The Nephilim listened earnestly, carefully, and silently, occasionally asking questions to Gray.

"The Sult-Hurni…" Franz muttered. "I've read about them in old, sumerian manuscripts. To think that you were able to see their history with your bare eyes…" Franz Kaldiri sighed in his heart.

While he was glad of not having seen the Memoirs of Sin, as his heightened sight would only allow him to do so for the cost of his life, he felt slightly jealous!

Franz was a man who felt an insatiable need to seek knowledge—a man who desperately craved interesting events in history, how could he not feel this way?

Nonetheless, the fact that he hadn't died yet meant that he could witness more and more events, including the ones that'll belong to Gray.

Giving up on his life just wasn't worth it.

As Gray explained of how he dodged the attacks of the Heralds of Sin, Franz was throughly impressed.

While the Heralds were greatly weakened, as they instilled most of their power to bring forth the Descent, it was truly a remarkable feat; especially for an Onironaut, one of the weakest kinds of Nephilim.

This was because the quintessence didn't strengthen their bodies in any meaningful way, thus it didn't improve their physical capabilities at all, leading them to be more or less like normal humans.

Yet, no matter this crucial inability towards combat, their abilities were highly sought after. This caused them to be hunted, their bodies stripped of their only means of survival, leading them to become mindless husks, only good to reveal their 'owner's' future.

Such was one of the fates of the Onironauts, the Wandering Voyagers of Infinite Worlds.

Gray spoke of how, when he called upon Genesis, a sudden charge of knowledge that stemmed from Selene's past actions gushed inside his brain, allowing him to scrutinize her movements carefully and replicate them for his own benefit.

"Yet it didn't seem like 'my' Genesis. It was as if someone else, or 'something else' had heeded to my call, posing as something it 'wasn't.'" Gray spoke.

Franz Kaldiri's gaze soon darkened again.

'He has done it again…' Gray thought, noticing his changes instantly.

In his mind, he formulated various theories.

"My ability has something hidden about it…I'm now sure about this. And this 'something,' is dangerous in nature, isn't it?" he inwardly said as he scrutinized Franz's restrained expression.

His expression was something he had seen and experienced before.

Verily, after witnessing His actions, Gray had faced the same kind of 'fear' he could see etched into his face.

Gray now understood; and with this sudden realization, his expression gradually turned fiercer in nature.

"The Monolith is the only one who can do these kinds of tasks."

"Instead of Genesis, the one who answered to my chant was Him. As He transformed me into a Nephilim…As I first had a real-world prophecy, He left something within me—something indescribable—something that is now allowing me to do these unfathomable endeavors." he uttered in his heart, gritting his teeth.

The first step The Monolith had taken was when Gray had first come to learn about His existence whilst dreaming. The second step He had taken was after forbidding Gray to utter His name, showcasing the end of the world to Gray lest he dared to.

This second step signaled the first strengthening of Gray's Nephilim ability.

The third step He had taken was when Gray fought the Heralds of Sin, and that was the first time He truly intervened on his body, inside the physical plane, allowing Gray to tap into His power.

From these facts, Gray could formulate a final hypothesis.

'The gift He has left can both heighten Genesis, and can work on its own, allowing me to use the ability of Replication.'

"Ability…" Gray mumbled in his heart.

Every Nephilim possesses a Fragment that powers their ability. Therefore, if one possesses more than a single ability, the Nephilim would naturally require a different Fragment to power it.

'Could this be the case?'

Gray silently glanced at Franz, his brown hair casting shadows over his face..

'Maybe if I ask him…'

Franz knew something about the veil of mysteries shrouding him, that was certain. Yet, Gray was unsure of what he was aware of.

'Casanova said, "He perceives the world differently from us.'"

'Coincidentally, after having spoken with Casanova about the event of my real-world revelation, and gaining the hang over Intra with impossible speeds, he employed me to send him a suitcase…'

'Yet, Franz Kaldiri's word contradicted Casanova's, for he said that I was the kid Casanova wanted him to meet, not the one supposed to bring him his suitcase.'

'So that purpose of meeting we had was fake; Franz may have not even needed the item inside the suitcase.'

'Thanks to the information he mistakenly gave away, I can undoubtedly figure that the true purpose of Franz, a Nephilim who can perceive the subtle changes inside the world, was to gain hidden insight over my bizarre abilities.'

'When we first met, he may have used the pretense of 'having a chat,' so he could monitor my conditions thoroughly…'

'Therefore, since Casanova told me about Mnemosyne's Antiques and Franz's need for other employers, this could've meant that what Franz had found wasn't 'right,' prompting Casanova to acquire someone who could monitor me every day…'

Gray took a deep breath; he now understood everything…!

…

Meanwhile, inside Franz's thoughts.

'I didn't know He was so far ahead compared to my expectations…! To think that Gray is even starting to assimilate His power!'

He glanced at the boy in front of him, staring deep inside his pitch-black eyes. He silently scrutinized his expression, noting it in his mind.

'Yet, he seems sane.'

'While even normal Nephilim can experience a varying degree of madness, had someone else acquired and used the Mercurial Fragment Gray possessed, they would've surely been afflicted by inconceivable changes.'

'The only behavioral changes he had were brought by his continuing and persistent death toll. Soldiers who face death only once may become scarred, their personalities and perspective over the world changing instantly; it's not unnatural for him to change his personality so subtly.'

'If Gray continues like this—assimilating His powers and retaining his own sanity, he may truly become an Him, transmuting into a true deity!'

Franz didn't know whether to be terrified or in awe.

Was he witnessing the ascendancy of a divine being, or watching the slow decay of a mortal who would turn into a catastrophe?

Truthfully, it was the first time someone had ever made the flames in his heart shine so bright!

He had witnessed the rise and fall of countless Nephilim, even cutting short the lives of some, but this—this was completely different, like the changes between the heavens and earth!

He smiled inwardly, his expectations growing higher and higher.

…

Outside, the sun had just started to set.

Birds flew in the blood-tinted sky, their appearance resembling that of an antique canvas, praised for its simple beauty.

They spread their wings solemnly, following their flock carefully, eager to reach a land with more opportunities—a land that'll allow them to escape the harsh winter that'll soon come.

They chirped together, their gentle melody softening their mood, their majestic song allowing them to feel more 'connected,' less 'alone.'

Unlike the Nephilim, birds were powerless compared to their opposing predators. Thus, the only thing they could do was group together, basking in the warmth of 'security.'

Yet, was this a 'true' means of safety?

Hawks may plunder some neighbor from their flock, and soon after, a different bird would emerge, replacing the its fallen companion.

Were preys always this powerless?

Were they always so…replaceable?

With a flock of thousand, why didn't they instead use their numbers to get their revenge against their predators? Why don't they bite at their predator's neck, cutting their lives short?

When the weak gain power for the first time, why do they never use it? Why do they wallow in their fears?

As the birds kept their journey, their melody weakened, their gentle voices now lost in the wind, forgotten by the clouds and by their fallen companions.

Silence now hung in the air.

A ray of light shone from Ophelia's open window, shining right over Gray's pitch-black eyes. Behind him, a thick, formless shadow formed.

Shooo…

A small gust of shooing wind blew inside her house, her red, square patterned curtains slowly rippling. Soon after, Gray's hair did the same, floating delicately under the breeze.

As the ends of his lips slowly curled upwards, forming a slight, almost indifferent smile, he finally spoke.

"Were you and Casanova ever planning on telling me about my second Fragment?"