Lakshman felt something or someone tapping him on his forehead and it made him moan sleepily. It took him a moment to open his eyes and see that he was lying on the comfortable grassy plains of his Unconscious World, and the one seated above him was the fairy.
“How long do you plan on sleeping?” She asked him in a curious voice.
He blinked wearily up at her and replied, “A bit longer if you’d let me,” to which she giggled and tapped him once again on the forehead. As his sleepiness faded away, he sensed someone else’s presence and shifted his glance to see Asura sitting upright and looking pleasantly at him.
“Good morning, I guess?” Asura asked curiously. “I mean, is there even a proper time cycle in this world?”
“Don’t ask me,” said the fairy with a shake of her head. “This is my first time experiencing what it feels like to enter the mind of somebody.”
The first Phoenix Titan looked at her and asked, “So you say, but you’re a pixie, right? Why do you look so big?”
His words instantly wiped away the smile on her face and made her look angrily at him.
“I’m a fairy!” She said heatedly. “How many times must I have to proclaim the race I belong to?!”
“But you were tiny when I woke up, and suddenly got this big,” said Asura, looking disbelievingly at her. “I think you’re just using some kind of trick to fool us.”
“I’m certainly am not!” She retorted and rose to her feet to show him her full body as a pair of wings sprouted out of her back. “See? I’m a fairy through and—!”
Before she could complete her sentence, there was a sudden poof as smoke suddenly appeared and hid her from view. A moment later, the smoke cleared to reveal the girl had disappeared, and instead, in her place was a small figure of the girl.
Asura cracked a small smile at her sight and began saying, “Well… I suppose that clarifies things.” He spread his arms out to aim at her and said, “She’s a pixie, and that form is the proof.”
“No!” She exclaimed, recovering from the shock she felt when she transformed back into this small form. “I’m not a pixie, I’m a fairy! You made me lose my concentration!”
“It’s not much of a form if you lose it as soon as you get distracted,” commented Asura in an exasperated voice.
She slowly shook her head and looked as if she was about to cry while managing to say, “I’m not… I’m not a pixie! I’m a fairy…! I’m a… FAIRY!”
As Asura continued to look at her in disbelief, Lakshman gradually sat up and said, “Asura… Drop it.”
“She’s the one who kept insisting she’s something that she’s clearly not,” replied Asura and shrugged his shoulders indifferently. He was a little disconcerted when he received Lakshman’s glare, which made him turn to her and inwardly sigh before saying, “Although, I must admit she does look cute in that form.”
His praise had the effect of making her look at him in stunned surprise and stammer, “C-Cute? I’m… cute? Really?”
Asura groaned and said, “Don’t make me repeat myself.”
She felt a little taken aback by his statement, but her happiness did not damper as she said, “Fine. I’ll accept your statement in the absence of your apology. You should consider yourself lucky because you have a smart person, like Lucky, on your side.”
This made Lakshman’s past-self chuckle when they suddenly heard a voice ask, “What’s this? An argument between souls? This I must witness,” before the God of Energy, Engraut appeared with a smile on his face. “Hey, Lakshman! How are you?”
“Engraut!” Lakshman called, feeling suddenly awake and jumped to his feet to go greet the God. “I’m doing alright. It’s great to see you again!”
“Good to hear it,” replied with a smile. “I’m very surprised that you landed in this world, Lakshman.”
The Solaris Hero nodded and replied, “Yes. After falling through that void, I somehow got summoned to this world.”
Engruat smiled and tilted his head to look over Lakshman’s shoulder at the two others behind before asking him, “Who else do we have here?”
The two began walking towards them while the fairy watched, feeling surprised and a little apprehensive as she did not understand who Engraut was. Asura, on other hand, remained seated on the grass and breathed out a deep sigh in exasperation.
“Seriously. When did this place become a place for public gathering?” He muttered, questioning no one in particular.
“Greetings,” said Engruat with a smile, ignoring Asura and looking at the fairy. He raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s a pixie doing here?” He turned and asked Lakshman, “Since when did a pixie start inhabiting your head?”
Lakshman became worried at the God of Energy calling her something she disliked and quickly turned to look at her only to feel amazed. If she had indeed taken offense like usual, it could not be seen in her face because she was staring at Engruat with a baffled expression on her face. She could sense that his energy was different as well as sensing something special about him that made him stand out from the rest.
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“Um…?” She asked tentatively, looking apprehensively at him. “Who’s this person, Lucky?”
He was both relieved that she wasn't angry and surprised at her sudden curiosity, but he still smiled and answered her.
“This is the God of Energy, Engraut. He’s a nice person and a good friend.”
The moment he introduced her, the fairy girl widened her eyes in alarm and quickly took a kneeling position with her head bowed to him.
“Sir! I mean, God! I-I am truly honoured… I mean. I’m truly happy to-to meet a being such as you!” She stammered, trying to sound confident but her nervousness making her struggle a little bit.
“It’s quite alright,” replied Engraut with a smile. “Raise your head. I don’t like this kind of formality.”
“Yes, especially for a guy who is notorious for being a stalker,” commented Asura from his seated position.
“And greeting to you, too, Asura,” said Engraut with a smile, which Lakshman thought was somewhat forced. “How are you?”
“Did better before you dropped in,” replied Asura in a dejected voice. “I never dreamed I’d meet you again.”
“Wow. The feeling’s mutual,” replied the God of Energy with a cheeky smile. “Isn’t that amazing?”
“What’s amazing is your shamelessness to enter wherever you please and wherever your nose doesn’t belong in,” said Lakshman’s past-self in annoyance. “I think I made myself clear the last time that if you spied on me one more time, I’d chop off that nose and put it in your hands.”
His words made Engruat chuckle and stated, “If only words could do actual damage. Too bad.”
As he chuckled, and the first Phoenix Titan glared up at him, the fairy flew over to Lakshman’s side and asked, “Um… Is it me, or do those two don’t get along that well?”
Lakshman smiled wryly and replied, “Yes. It’s a… strained feelings because of all that’s happened in the past.”
He remembered about the past involving the first encounter between the God of Energy and the first Phoenix Titan. It was during the time when Asura had boldly challenged the Mythological Gods, and after defeating Whamana, who was the God of Wisdom at that time, he lost to the overwhelming power of the God of Justice. Since then, the God of Energy had visited him numerous times and made fun of him as the only mortal in many centuries that had dared to challenge the Gods and received gifts for his fearlessness and courage.
As he smiled at the comedic effect each of Engraut’s visit had, he was snapped out of his revere when Asura finally rose to his feet and asked, “Well, at least you weren’t entirely useless since you were the one who warned me about the revival of the Ancient Evil that was threatening the safety of the world.”
“Ah!” Lakshman said, suddenly remembering about the events of the past and recognising what Asura said was true. “That’s right! Engraut! You’re the one who warned Asura about the impending danger while he was wandering around the world.”
The God of Energy nodded and shrugged as he said, “Well, with how strong Asura was at that time, I thought that he might be able to defeat that thing since, as Gods, our hands were tied by the restriction placed on us by The Creator.”
“Really?” Asura asked, looking suspiciously at him.
“I’m being honest!” Engraut replied, looking hurt. “We, as Mythological Gods, are allowed to interact with mortal beings in the Physical Plane so long as it remains under the distinction of granting you blessings and giving advices. It was later that our restrictions got upscaled to the point that it was like a ban on us forbidding to meddle in the going ons in the Physical Plane.”
“And here you are, meeting and speaking to us,” said Asura, pointing out the obvious by looking at him up and down. “What do you make of this, Engraut, or are you going to shrug this off and say you’re just an apparition because you are a God?”
His words made Engruat laugh lightly and reply, “Your sense of humour hasn’t waned in all these years, old friend.”
“I guess even insults sound like comedy to your ears despite being a useless god and all,” retorted Asura, shaking his head disapprovingly.
As Engraut eyed him wearily for his last comment, Lakshman asked the god, “Engraut, please tell me about the revival of the Ancient Evil! I have absolutely no idea of when he will resurrect, where he would rise up from, and how powerful he would be in this day and age. You have to let me know!”
“Whoa there!” The God of energy said, waving his hands in a gesture to calm him down. “Calm down, Lakshman.”
“It’s a serious situation to deal with when that happens, so how can you expect us to just be calm?” Asura asked, looking at him sternly.
Engraut sighed and stated, “I know, and I hate to do this, but I’m sorry. I can’t answer any of those questions.”
“What?!” Lakshman exclaimed, looking shocked. “B-But, Engraut!”
“Listen,” said Engraut, raising his hands to have them be quiet while he speaks. “It’s not part of my duty to let you know of the events to come because that’ll be going against fate and destiny. Trust me, going against the Goddess of Fate is not something I want to have to face,” and he looked very worried.
“So, you can’t tell me right now?” Lakshman asked, and the God of Energy shook his head sadly.
“Now isn’t the right time,” said Engraut sadly, “but in due time I will let you know. So, in the meantime, drop the topic.”
Lakshman nodded meekly looking disappointed and asked, “Fine, but in that case, what did you come here for?”
“Oh!” Engraut said, smiling again as he was filled with energy. “I heard a prayer concerning someone that I thought was related to you, so I came to find you in this world, and I understood the situation.”
“Spying or stalking?” Asura asked curtly.
“You’re as funny as always,” said Engraut, chuckling while ignoring his comment.
Lakshman eyed Asura wearily before sighing and asking the God of Energy, “So, what prayer did you hear?”
To that, Engraut clicked his tongue three times and placed his forefinger near his mouth before saying, “It’s a God’s secret.”
This made Lakshman raise an eyebrow questioningly while the fairy, who was hovering next to him, eyed him with a wondrous expression on her face. Only Asura appeared to be unimpressed by his attitude.
“Still, though, you certainly are in a bit of a tight spot, aren’t you?” Engraut asked Lakshman.
The Solaris Hero nodded and asked, “How much do you know?” When Engruat gave him a knowing look that told him he was aware of the things going on, Lakshman sighed and asked, “I see that you’ve been silently spying on me.”
“No, I was not!” Engraut replied, looking shocked. “I swear to—!”
“Don’t say ‘God’ because you’re a God yourself!” Asura snapped, looking at him with an irritated face. “Oh, and drop your act. It’s too obvious.”
Engraut sighed and said, “Fine. You got me, but don’t complain that I didn’t come to meet you sooner. You know my policy about not interfering unless necessary, right?” When Lakshman nodded, he smiled and said, “Good! Now, mind telling me what you’re going to do from here on to get back at that creature?”
At that, they all turned to look at him, waiting for his answer. Truth be told, the plan that Asura addressed to the two members of the Raven’s Guild in Bolten’s presence was actually something that Lakshman came up with. However, the first Phoenix Titan improved on the concept and shared his version of the plan with them. So, when their eyes fell on him, Lakshman simply grinned with a confidence that stated that his plan has a high success rate of defeating the alien for good.