He wakes up with the night sky hanging over his head, well a familiar mural painting of the night sky. Pluma is sat squarely on his chest, talons tangled into his robes, sleeping. Cadeyrn is next to him, arms crossed and head bent down, asleep in a chair he knows wasn’t there before. Even the little angels in his hair don’t chime or ring, just buzz softly in their own sleep.
He glances up at the only thing still “awake”.
The System already has a message ready for him, colored a dark evergreen, outlined in a small border of dark gray, [Host is a lair and an idiot].
‘Morning to you too System,’ he snarks back, glancing around the room before he remembers there are no windows in his bedroom. ‘How long was I out?’
[3 days.]
He jolts from the shock, quickly stilling as Pluma grumbles something and shifts before relaxing back into sleep.
‘It’s really been 3 days?’ he asks hoping that this is just some cruel joke by the System.
[System would not joke about this. And System told Host that two divinities would be too much.]
As much as he wants to refute that, it did tell him. The System was very clear on just how bad of an idea it was, and in retrospect, it was an incredibly stupid decision. He blames the stress and lack of proper sleep for the poor decision-making, but there’s no refuting he chose to do this, time to own up to his stupidity.
‘I don’t know why I did it,’ he confesses, and to be honest, all his memories from last night are a bit fuzzy, like a half-remembered dream, ‘it made sense at the moment, but now I feel like an idiot. I’ll try not to do it again-‘
[Host does not understand.] The System injects, words bolded, [Host was almost terminated!]
He freezes, staring blankly at the message. Re-reading the words several times to make sure he didn't make a mistake, but the words don’t change no matter how many times he reads them, ‘I was that OOC?’
Several windows open and close, too fast for him to read anything they say, before it finally settles on one short message, [Move.]
‘What?’ he asks, body tensing as he quickly glances, trying to see if there’s some unseen threat lurking around.
[Move in any way Host wants, then Host will see.]
‘Ominous,’ he thinks, but he complies, vaguely curious as to where this is going. Slowly he lifts his right hand, except he doesn’t move at all, and pain lances down his nerves. He flinches but that only makes the pain spread to every inch of him.
He hisses, closing his eyes and forcing himself to still, breathing slowly even as his heart thunders in his ears. Nothing would ever surpass the pain of having the strings of fate torn from him, but this buzzing sharp ache is a close second.
Forcing his eyes open, he gives the System the dirtiest glare he can manage, ‘You knew this would happen.’
[System did,] it admits easily, not a single shred of pity, [But according to System’s calculations, Host needed to know the exact extent of Host’s foolish actions, so as to not try killing himself again.]
‘I wasn’t trying to kill myself,’ he snaps back, before letting out a long sigh. He knows that wasn’t what he was thinking at least, but considering the stabbing pain that's still lingering after 3 days, he can understand where the idea comes from, ‘I admit it was a mistake and I won’t do it again.’
[Good.] And the System’s next window is almost the familiar pastel green, [And System is sorry for causing Host pain. But Host forgets that if something happens to Host, then System will also suffer the consequences.]
He had forgotten that part. The System only mentioned it when they first meet, something about getting a level-up if their task was completed, ‘You get your promotion after all this?’
[Not how System would put it.] it types and Asterius can almost hear its confused disappointed tone, [But yes. System will move onto bigger and more complex worlds, gaining more power until the day System will help create a new original world with a creator. Only the best Systems get bestowed such an honor.] Little holographic stars twirl around the message before it dissolves and a new one appears closer to him, [Host wants to go home after the missions are over, yes?]
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
‘Yeah,’ he agrees, letting memories of his life before the novel flood his head. ‘I want to have my mom’s terrible home cooking, to be there during Beth’s graduation, and to finally save up enough money to go to art school. But mostly I just want to see my family again.’
The System is quiet for a long minute, and Asterius uses the quiet to get lost in the newly resurfaced memories before a new window blinks in his face. [System is sorry.]
He raises an eyebrow, ‘For?’
[System is unsure why this assignment hasn’t been going as planned. System should have all relevant information for the task assigned, yet System’s world data obviously contains missing sections.]
He’s a bit surprised the System is bringing this up, based on its earlier behavior he assumed this 'malfunction' would never be addressed again, but it almost sounds like the System is trying to imply… ‘the lack of information was intended?’
[System has no evidence any missing data was intentional, System could be malfunctioning in a way not yet recorded, or something in the story has already greatly been altered beyond System’s understanding.]
‘None of those are good things System.’
[Would Host like to hear the theories that were omitted?]
‘No, no,’ he thinks quickly shaking his head no. He quickly stops moving however as pain explodes in his head, a sharp needle-like pain stabbing him in the back of his eyes, ‘what the hell happened for this to hurt so much?’
[Host used too much power. All of that divinity tore Asterius’s Vessel Form.] It explains, completing the explanation with a little graphic of a Frankenstein-looking Asterius.
‘Tore?’ He thinks worriedly, glancing down at his body. He’s wearing a different robe than he remembers, a dark rich purple fabric, that’s noticeably heavy and thick. For one of Asterius’s robes, it’s very simple, with only a light stitching of silver thread on the borders. One of his selves is partially rolled up and from under the rich fabric, he can see bandages stained gold.
[Host should be okay,] the System assures, moving its window so that it blocks his view, [But System forbids Host from using two divinities in the same day again!]
‘Yeah, don’t worry that’s not going to be a problem,’ he agrees, frowning down at the bandages. Now that he was focusing on the pain, it did feel like he was covered in a thousand tiny cuts. It’s a horrifying image to imagine his body just splitting apart like a broken egg, so he pushes the thoughts away and shifts his eyes elsewhere.
He startles when he finds eyes looking back at him. Big blue eyes. Pluma is awake and is watching him quietly, something evaluating in his stare.
Asterius forces a little smile, “Morn-," his voice is scratchy and parched from disuse, but he manages to croak out a full, "Morning.”
Pluma’s face scrunches, but the angel mutters a soft, “Morning,” back, still staring at him intently, as though Asterius was some sort of puzzle the little seraphim couldn't find the answer too.
‘How long has he been awake?’ he thinks, forcing himself to keep the smile, as he glances at the System's window.
[System wasn’t really paying attention….]
‘I take back everything nice I said about you.’
[Meanie Host!]
“Master,” Pluma starts slowly, big blue eyes still unreadable, “I-,” Pluma snaps his beak closed, burying his face in Asterius's chest.
Panic and worry crash into him, he goes to move his hands up to hold Pluma, but the pain stabs into him again, so he settles for words. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Asterius asks, but that seems to be the wrong thing to say as the angel just tries to twist himself deeper into his robes.
"I should be asking master that!" Pluma protests loudly, ruffling his wings and sending feathers everywhere, "It's not okay!"
The stars in his hair jolt awake from the yell with confused chimes, circling worriedly over the two of them, a few even land on Pluma's back and nuzzle into his feathers. From the side, he can feel a piercing gaze, Cadeyrn seems to have also woken up. Asterius needs to quickly get the situation back under control before it spirals any further into dangerous territory.
“Pluma, how can I-,” he stops talking as pain lances up his arm, another knee-jerk reaction to reach up. This time though, the stars buzz loudly as they twist around his arm and help him move so that he can gently rest a hand on Pluma’s shaking back, “How can I help?”
Pluma lets out a croaking whine, and Asterius pretends he doesn’t notice the front of his robes getting wet. “Master almost left us-. You can't-. Please-," Pluma hiccups, his entire tiny body shaking, "Please don't leave me again.”
Something like regret twists in his stomach, but he forces the smile to stay on his face, “I won’t leave,” he assures, hoping it doesn't sound like the lie it is.
"Does Master promise us all that?"
He glances over at Cadeyrn, but the demon isn't looking at him and is instead staring up at the empty mural. his normally bright red eyes, now a dull maroon, glittering in the faint starlight the angels' shine. Asterius isn't fully sure he's actually speaking to him, so he must hesitate too long to give an answer, because Cadeyrn repeats himself, "Dose master promise not to throw away his life again? To not leave any of us?"
The stars chime their agreement with the question rushing to twine themselves into his hair, and Pluma sniffs, glancing up at him with his big watery eyes, talons digging into his robes. Seems he's really not winning this one. "That was never my intent," he clarifies, but still he forces himself to make another impossible promise, "but I will not do it again."
That seems to help somehow; the angels stop their worried chiming and a few even return to lazily circle around his head, Pluma reburies himself in Asterius's robes but his tears have stopped, and Cadeyrn nods sharply before pushing himself to his feet and heading for the door, muttering something about breakfast as he goes.
It feels wrong to make all these promises. This wasn’t his world, wasn't his life, and once the epilogue comes and goes…
[The original Asterius will return once the novel is over.]
‘Still doesn’t make it feel better,’ he thinks bitterly, but he still gives Pluma a hug and lets the stars chime a soft lullaby in his hair, all while Asterius continues to whisper promises he never plans to keep.