Date: 11th October 2822
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Saint's Hospital, Common Realm, The Empire of Wisdom
"How are you feeling today, Jane? Do you feel dizzy, or is there any issue with your vision, like a blackout in a particular area or any hearing issue, you can tell me all right!" said Aadya as she noted down several readings and made note of Jane's condition.
"No, nothing Nurse Aadya, I feel good but just a little tired and nothing else" replied back Jane.
"Since you lost a lot of blood due to the accident, it is normal to feel tired, and weak in your arms and legs, don't worry you will be alright in a week, just relax and let me know if you need anything, your brother he is waiting outside, I'll leave you both alone he brought lots of fruits for you, such a caring elder brother you have" said Aadya smiling.
"You can come in now, Walter, I am done with her regular checkup for today."
"Thank you so much for your help, Nurse Aadya," said Walter in a humble, yet deep and low voice.
He entered the room and closed the door behind him as Aadya left the room.
----------------------------------------
Walter's POV:
"How are you doing, my little sister," asked Walter in a very sweet and caring voice.
"Cut the crap, X-05, I told you not to use my brother as one of your aliases", said Jane with extreme killing intent.
"It is necessary for the mission, don't complain X-09" replied X-05 in a cold and aloof voice.
"Master, told you to let go of your emotions and connections to the outer world when you joined his organization, it is merely an alias that works as information of your old life as Jane Foster is still present on the Saint's hospital database, it makes everything believable but if you continue to show such killing intent, we will be caught, so if you don't wanna compromise the mission you have two options.
1. I kill you here and now and make it seem that you had internal bleeding that couldn't be discovered during the initial checkup.
2. You can calm yourself down and we complete the mission in silence as we always do.
You have 3 seconds to decide: .....1.....2.....3
"F**k, alright, alright, I accept I was being childish, but why does it have to be my family only," asked X-09 as she calmed herself down and asked him sincerely.
"I do not exist in the outside world, I don't even have any record of existence anywhere," replied X-05 in a casual way.
"How is that possible?" asked an astonished Jane.
"Not relevant to the mission," replied X-05 in a cold voice again.
"The First rule of being part of Master's Shadow Network: Forget your connection to the outside world, leave all your emotions outside as you take a step into shadows"
"The Second rule: The end justifies the means, do anything that is absolutely necessary for the mission"
"And finally, most important of all, The Unspoken Inviolable"
These are the only rules that bound us, X-09" said X-05.
"The only reason I accepted your Master's proposal to join was, to find the person who killed my brother nothing more nothing less, so don't ever lecture me on my motivation and these stupid rules you follow" replied Jane, controlling her anger.
"Master's orders, what did you find when you infiltrated the research facility yesterday, on the top floor?"
"So, you are just gonna ignore all the above, there is no getting past you, fine, here are the photos of what I saw, I transferred them to your index, check it. The research there seemed fishy to me, the purpose of research is to try and find whether stigmas can be removed or not, however, the amount of blood they extract from Nurse Aadya is too much, In the pics I sent you, you can see them trying to like to clone her blood or mass produce it. What's more haunting is the fact that Mr. Hiten himself is consuming a lot of her "potions" as they seem to call her blood. And an amazing fact is that it seems her blood improves the physical stats of a person. However, that's still not all, they were talking about another even more advanced research which Mr. Hiten conducts at another facility not in this building but somewhere else and they send lots of her original blood samples there too. That is why they have increased the quantity of her "tests" as they call them. One more thing, they are planning something big on the 13th."
"Good work, now keep your eyes on Aadya and protect her, we need to keep her safe, topmost priority. I'll keep an eye on her when she's not at the hospital, you focus on her here and keep up your work, try and see if you can find anything more on this big plan on the 13th," said X-05 as he started making preparations for the worst.
"We'll have to keep her safe until Master returns back from his dungeon raid, luckily, the timing is perfect as Master's trip will end on the 13th itself, on the 13th you'll have 2 tasks, first teleport Master here, upon receiving my signal and secondly, in the worst-case-scenario, teleport with Aadya to one of the safehouses and report to master immediately from there and if task 1 is still not completed teleport him there too."
"Also, keep maintaining your relationship with Aadya, we need to get more information on stigmas so becoming close with one of the recipients will definitely assist us. Master had specifically asked for you to become close with Aadya in the scroll, he sent us," ordered X-05.
"Ya, ok, it's alright but she talks so much Nurse Aadya, from her husband Kalkin to her neighbors and what-not."
"Ya, now you understand how I feel every day, living with you!!" said X-05 nonchalantly.
"Hey I don't talk that much but what about you? will you now follow Dr. Hiten and try to find this other location" asked a curious Jane/X-09.
"Ya, I'll sedate his food tonight with sleeping drugs and try to find the location with my all-seeing eyes!"
"I have one more question, you told me about the tasks I need to do on the 13th, but what about you, are you by any chance trying to keep me out of the party you'll host at that other facility," asked an excited X-09.
"Yes, and before you say anything else, keeping her safe is the topmost priority (and you too)" said X-05 in a stoic yet calm and authoritative manner.
"Ai, ai, captain, what a party pooper," said Jane/X-09 in a bored manner.
"With this, have these apples and go to sleep it gonna be busy again tonight," said X-05.
----------------------------------------
Time: 5:00 PM
Location: Ground Floor of the Keep( allotted to Garrison), The Kingdom of Almighty ( To the west of Empire of Wisdom)
Captain Jill's POV:
"Sir, a lady is outside the garrison, she claims to be one of the research students under the Royal Scientist and asks to meet with you," said a soldier showing him the seal of the royal scientist the lady gave to that soldier.
"Bring her here, politely " replied Captain Jill of the ground units.
(Few moments later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
"Excuse me, are you Captain Jill of the ground units?" asked the young scholar.
"Well, that's what the nameplate outside my office says, right?"
"Ya, but your ground unit lot is famous for being rowdy, unapologetic, big drinkers, and scary, amongst people"
"Your words feel like dagger miss, but I cannot deny that, my men do sometimes get a little rowdy when drunk but they are a good lot miss, dedicated to protecting the grounds from anything and everything,"
"Anyways, this is the letter from the Royal Scientist, the letter has everything written in detail but in a nutshell, the royal scientist saw your battle with Sir Rogers and was impressed, and wants to invite you for dinner tomorrow night, So what's your decision?" said The scholar in one big breath.
"Oh, ok, well, I'll be honored to have dinner with the Royal Scientist but there is one thing, I don't know anything about such dinners, never been to one"
"Oh, it's not any formal event, it's just between you and her, she was just impressed by your skills and nothing else," said the scholar as if getting impatient to leave.
"Ah, I see, ok so yes, it's good, I'll be honored to have dinner with her"
"Then I shall take your leave," replied the scholar.
"Soldiers, escort Madam Scholar out, politely", said Captain Jill to his soldiers.
"Sir, yes Sir" replied the soldiers, as they saluted the Captain and escorted the scholar out.
(Some moments later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
"If it is an informal dinner invite, what do I have to wear? I mean on Social and official events, as the Kingdom's Captain, I wear my official events uniform, but I haven't been to any informal dinner invites so what do I do, whom should I ask, well time to watch some videos on the MagicMedia platform. "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, it depends, from person to person, and your relationship with them, ok! So much tougher than wearing events uniform man!!!!!" said an overworked Captain Jill. It seemed as if watching any more videos will seriously short-circuit his brain.
"So, I don't know Royal Scientist personally, so wearing something too informal will give a wrong impression, I just found out that Royal Scientist is a woman from her scholar, so definitely I need to dress up appropriately. Well, I, Royal Scientist, and several other people were all given the positions on the same day, had I not been asleep throughout the event, I would have known who the Royal Scientist is and what she looks like. Since that event, she didn't attend any other event stating she is busy with her research, so definitely, she is someone who takes her responsibility seriously, so I also have to honor her accordingly with my get-up even though it's an informal dinner, that is the unspoken law of being a knight.
"Well, let's first check the venue and maybe I'll get an idea or something, where is that letter?"
----------------------------------------
The letter:
Dear Captain Jill,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to extend an invitation to you for an informal dinner at my home tomorrow night. As a scientist, I am always interested in meeting new people and hearing about their experiences, and I would be delighted to have the opportunity to host you.
I understand that my invitation may seem very sudden, but I saw your whole match with General Rogers and I was deeply impressed by your strength and charisma. You have also been on many adventures and have seen and done things that most people can only dream of. I would be very interested to hear your stories and learn more about the world beyond the laboratory.
The dinner will be a casual affair, and I promise that you will be well-fed with some of my latest experimental recipes. It will be a pleasure to have you as my guest, and I look forward to the conversation that will ensue.
Please let me know if you are able to join me and if there are any dietary restrictions I should be aware of. I am happy to accommodate any special requests.
Sincerely,
Eilonwy Fireheart.
----------------------------------------
{ SN: Well the Address of her home was also mentioned below but let's just not disclose it now~~~~~~~~~~( not that it's important anyway)}
"Informal Dinner at Scientist Eilonwy's home! There was nothing like that on the MagicMedia! Time to call my best friend" { SN: ~ on the fun part now, it would be best guys if you imagine someone with a similar build like Aoi Todo from Jujutsu Kaisen(Anime) saying this in classic Todo voice}
My friend David Copperfield is an artist, so you know he has been to many informal dinners even at late night, he is far more experienced than me, when it comes to social events like this.
Let me just message him through my index.
"Hey bro, I just got an informal invite for dinner from Royal Scientist Miss Eilonwy Fireheart, what should I wear, I already said Yes to her."
~Literally, 15 seconds later:
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
"Oh, he is calling me, hologram call? well anyways, let's just pick it up"
"What in the world did you just message me, Jill Steelwing, you ... you got an invite for dinner from the most beautiful lady in the entire Kingdom, Miss Eilonwy fireheart, you got an invite from her? but how is that possible, even I haven't seen her in any social events organized by nobles except the ones that are truly necessary or bounding on the Scientist's duty, and even in those she remains aloof untouchable, by anyone, and you are saying she sent you a letter of invite for dinner, " said my friend as tears rolled down his eyes.
"Ah, my God, Goddess of Aesthetics, must have answered my prayers, I prayed that you get a girl so that you can focus on something other than training. Finally, after years, my prayer was answered,"
"What are you blabbering David, she is just inviting me because of my spar with General Rogers as she said she was impressed by my strength."
"My dear Jill, do you take me as a fool, I am far more knowledgable than you when it comes to knowing about a maiden's heart, well, she was captivated by your strength as you fought against someone far stronger than you and didn't give up, that what attracted her to you buddy, now it's up to you to show your respect towards her courteous message," said my friend in an all-knowing tone.
"So you mean to say that Miss Fireheart, likes me? but how is that possible, she is Royal Scientist and I am just a captain?"
"Hahaha, my friend, you are an absolute zero here, It doesn't matter, you and her both fall in the same age group, and she extended her hand first as a sign of respect and approval towards you" replied David.
"Maybe you are right, I mean I just called you 'cause I didn't know what to wear or what happens in such scenarios?"
"Well, well, well, you have come to the right person, show me the letter, let's see, hmm, ok oh, yes, right right, good" was all I heard for some time.
"Ahh, it seems she is totally into you, Jill, she has fallen head over heels for you buddy, she says she was impressed by your strength and charisma that's true but if it was only this event, why is she saying that she heard about your past adventures as well, this means she has been trying to meet you for quite some time and had been keeping updates about you buddy, well as your friend, and also the fact that she will be serving you her own home-cooked meal, it means that she wants to show you her appreciation and wants to tell you that you are an important person to her." said my friend again in an all-knowing tone.
"Perhaps, then I might need to turn her down, my current and only goal is to win against General Rogers and succeed him," said Jill casually.
"Are you out of your mind, you are gonna turn down Miss Eilonwy, that the whole Kingdom wants, do you wanna be seen as a villain to all the young and fine gentlemen of the Kingdom?" asked David worried and a little confused about my decision.
"David, you know me, I am indebted to the General and if he only ever asked me once this thing and it was to surpass him, I am gonna do that, he is more than a father figure to me, you know that very well, and, until I have achieved that, I cannot afford distractions and disappoint him," said Jill in a straightforward manner.
"Okay, Okay, but still you need to honor this dinner and if things proceed in that direction, you can without hurting her feelings tell her what you just told me with all honesty and respect, she will understand and let's see where it goes from that, isn't it good," said David knowing that there is no other way to convince his friend.
"yes, it's better that way," said Jill.
"Okay, so I have already sent you a list of "what to wear", see what you like, all of them are okay, personally I would go for option 3, you can wear any since you are gonna reject her anyway, so buy them if you don't have it at home," said David, as if he is bored now
"You are awesome, my friend, I'll hang up now, thanks for the help, buddy, you are a lifesaver"
"I know man, and I still haven't given up, I'll keep on praying until you find a girl brother, anyways all the best for your dinner invite tomorrow," said David as he canceled the call.
"Finally, everything is done," said Jill as he took and let out a deep breath and got back to his work.
----------------------------------------
Time: 6:25 PM(human time)
Location: God of Virtue's space/plane
God of Mischief's POV:
Finally, I thought you ditched out of our conversation, god of Virtue.
Why are you all silent? Where is your usual monologue? didn't it go something like this: ''This is a place of virtue and righteousness, and I won't tolerate any disruption.''
Hey, why are you all silent? and where are you? After calling someone to your domain/plane, you can't just go away. Are you still mad about my last visit? It was just all fun and entertainment, buddy!
There is something wrong here, every time I visit his domain, due to its nature, his domain makes one feel really motivated to help or pursue knowledge, like a sense of responsibility takes over you, since I am a God, I am free of its effects but as my ideology contradicts his ideology, I definitely feel some stings every time I visit his domain and vice-versa. However, today I don't feel anything rather it seems like sadness and guilt have taken over everything. There is definitely something wrong here. God of Virtue, he may be angry with me but since he follows the path of righteousness and responsibility, he will never ever leave someone unattended, let alone a God.
His domain is like a city, filled with knowledge and tranquility, there is his temple, and there is his library but it's all awfully quiet. Usually, his followers who died while worshipping him are present here either continuing to pursue their knowledge or cultivating inner peace and balance, or maybe in pursuit of enlightenment. But today, it's awfully quiet, which is uncharacteristic of his domain. I need to find out what is happening here, this is not normal.
Hey Jack, can you hear me?
"Ya, what is it, did you reach God of Virtue's plane? " asked an impatient Jack.
"There is something wrong here. First of all, I was called/summoned a little late in his domain which is uncharacteristic of God of Virtue. But still, if you let go of that, there was no follower, no one to receive me when I arrived here, this is absolutely against the principles of a pre-planned meet between Gods, even if some Gods arrive in another God's domain uninformed, it's a common practice amongst Gods to send their followers to receive the God that just arrived. And God of Virtue who places emphasis on tradition and righteousness will never do something like this even in millennia."
"What are you saying, even Paul here hasn't been able to contact his God for a while now?" asked an impatient Jack.
"That's still not the most absurd thing, there is absolutely no sign of any follower in his domain left, I mean I can just feel faint signatures of his(God of Virtue's) energy but no followers, is it even possible? Despite being a low-level God like me, the God of Virtue possessed followers comparable to a High-Level God, and the only reason he wasn't a High God is that he is not interested in this politics among gods in short to say not interested in deciding who is superior to whom in the Hierarchy. I still remember him saying this in front of the entire Council of Gods: We are beings that possess power and so we should use it to guide other people towards a better future and here, these Gods, you all are busy deciding a hierarchy, deciding who is superior to whom or who should be given the tag of High God? It's a pity, so I have decided now, I am leaving this council and then he just left. That was beyond cool for me. That's when I started respecting him too."
"Well, I understand you respecting him, but don't forget our mission, I want those cuffs removed from Kalkin right now!"
"Do you know, my follower why no one is able to walk when they are in those cuffs and why they remain unconscious for the entire duration until the cuffs are removed?" asked God of Mischief
"No, I don't..." said an annoyed Jack not understanding why is God of Mischief trying to derail from the topic
"It's because whenever a God of Virtue follower(emblem wielder or Champion) puts these handcuffs on someone, that person's soul is judged by the God of Virtue as his soul gets summoned to his plane where in a court his actions are judged and he is given a chance to explain them, accept his mistakes or repent on them but if he is still not willing to accept his mistake, he is judged by none other than God of Virtue and his soul is marked until he pays for his crimes," replied God of Mischief.
"And so why is this relevant now?" asked an exasperated Jack.
"Ah, It's because I thought, before arriving here that I would put a case for that child of yours in front of God of Virtue, but what can I do now when in front of my eyes, in front of them, in front of them, I see that very court burning by an eternal flame, the likes of which, us "low gods" can never hope to cast! " said God of Mischief, sadness, and shock, now totally visible on his face as he understood finally what was going on.
"What, what are you saying?" asked a confused and terrified Jack as he had never heard his God sounding so desperate and shocked.
"Ahh, my follower, I'll contact you again, I need to be somewhere else right now!" said God of Mischief as tears rolled down his eyes.
The entire scenario now changed, in front of the very eyes of God of Mischief, everywhere he looked now, everything was engulfed in eternal flame, something he hoped to never see again. The presence of eternal flame only meant one thing, that the God of Virtue was judged by the Council of Gods and deemed unworthy to continue existing.
But why, why is God of Virtue unworthy of existing, is it because he opposed the ideology of the Council, but if it was that they would have done this a long time back, heck I would have been annihilated first rather than him in the first place but why now, of all times, why now?
It all started when that emblem turned black, is it related to that child, Kalkin? But why would God of Virtue be punished for this?
Kalkin is no Champion, but even if he was and the God of Virtue gave him an emblem, he wouldn't have been judged by Council and be given the punishment of eternal flame.
It doesn't make any sense, I need to get in touch with the God of Virtue, his faint energy signature, I need to follow that.
( Some time later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
I have been wandering here and there, but everything is in flames, his signature is getting erased slowly by these flames, I need to follow this invisible thread of energy that seems to be the longest out of all the energy threads scattered!
(After walking for sometime ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
What is this place?
The whole of the plane is burning but this place is so warm and feels so light here, I feel as if I have achieved perfect harmony here.
"Ahh! It seems you were finally able to reach here my old friend !" said a voice, though weak as it may appear, God of Virtue immediately recognized it.
"Where are you, God of Virtue, just where the hell are you, what is all this?" asked a confused and tensed God of Mischief.
"Ahh! My friend just follow this straight line, I am at the end of it, keep walking, this is the only place left that eternal flame hasn't reached still, come here fast, I don't think I have much time left" replied the voice, despite all the suffering and chaos outside, his voice was at peace and was calm.
"How can you be so calm when your entire plan is in eternal flames, I do not understand any of it. And if you were here, you should have come to receive me when I arrived at your plane. You finally decided to rebel ah, finally, you gave up being the goody two shoes right?" said God of Mischief trying to delay the inevitable he knew was about to happen.
"Ahh, my friend, it was a really funny joke, you just said, I am sorry that I couldn't receive you, I just didn't have enough strength to reach you, just summoning you here and maintaining this place took all of my energy." replied god of Virtue as his voice became even lower.
Finally, God of Mischief was able to reach the end, it seemed like a cliff, with a single tree, ahead of the cliff was an ocean, a calm and peaceful one, and a beautiful sunset. As he reached closer to the tree, he saw someone sitting there leaning on it.
"Finally, so this is where you were hi......." God of Mischief couldn't even complete his sentence as he saw God of Virtue, lying there his weighing balance broken and his eyes and tongue gauged out from his body, His once muscular physique was now emaciated as he slowly breathed trying to postpone the inevitable with each long breath.
"ahh, you finally reached me, my old and trusted friend," said God of Virtue.
"Well, you also joke fine, telling God of Mischief that he is a trusted friend," said a sad and little teary-eyed God of Mischief.
"Ahh, hahahehah, ahh, it hurts now to even laugh, my friend, you are one of the most reliable people I have ever met in my life as a God friend," said God of Virtue.
"Sit, beside me, enjoy this view it's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Don't worry yourself, my friend, I am only reaping what I sowed, alas Finally, I'll achieve eternal rest, finally my friend, finally?"
"What are you saying, are you stupid, you still have so many followers left in the world! how can you die and leave them?"
"Ahh!, Mischief don't worry, the Council and the High God will take them all, but I want to give my most trusted follower Paul, under your care, okay, he is good to take care of him, he is like me in many regards, so you won't miss me at all, my friend," said God of Virtue as he tried to smile.
"But this doesn't make any sense, is Council eliminating you because you opposed them but why now, so suddenly?"
"Ahh, it's not that my friend, you might not know it, since you have never met him and you were very young just a bud when it all happened!"
"Now that I am on my deathbed, I'll just tell you this, I remembered him, remembered someone forbidden, I am only reaping what I sowed, my friend, the entirety of old Gods, the Higher ones, and the Council, I sensed him and remembered him, the one that they all fear, the one forgotten by all," said God of Virtue as finally his energy started to fade and the flames started reaching this place.
"However, you don't have to worry, you have never ever seen him, I am only reaping what I sowed, my friend, finally I get to repent for my mistake, this is nothing compared to the guilt I had been carrying for so long, finally I get to rest, finally," said God of Virtue as he slowly started to fade.
"Where are you going, what about your followers ?"
"They will all find their own way. They are all free to pursue their own ideology now. Just make sure that Paul comes under your care my friend, he is the one I chose and hoped to become my Apostle after my old Apostle died. Now, my friend, I must take your leave, I delayed as much as I could, just remember that child Kalkin, he must be protected, he must be protected, ahh, finally peace,...pea.ce.....a..t .....l..a..s..t ......". Those were the final words of God of Virtue as he slowly faded away into the abyss of no return, as his plane was submerged into the eternal flames.
"What the ***888*** just happened?
I am now back in my own plane, did the God of Virtue just die, why am I the God of Mischief, the one who loves only fun and entertainment feeling so heavy, why are these tears not stopping? was I even that close to God of Virtue in the first place? why did he tell me all that? what happened in the past?
God of Mischief now in his own plane, started throwing things around in confusion until he found a small, decorative showpiece of a weighing balance and with it came the memories flooding.
----------------------------------------
**The memory:**
"Oye, God of Virtue, did you just summon me to your plane again to give me some lecture," said God of Mischief.
"What you did with those Gods was not funny, Mischief, you went overboard like you always do, I won't take your side, this time in the Council meeting that will happen due to your idea of fun." said God of Virtue, even he was now bored of God of Mischief's fun and entertainment.
"Hey, I never asked you to do so, I can handle those old bastards of the council, and didn't you just recently leave the Council on your own accord?"
"That was for a different reason and this meeting will be for a different reason"
"Nah, don't worry then, those Gods won't say anything, 'cause I also know some of their dirty little secrets," said God of Mischief as another crazy idea came into his mind as he couldn't control his evil laughter.
"Amongst all the Gods, I have ever pranked on, only you are the one I have no dirt on!" said God of Mischief trying to steer the conversation away to a different direction.
"Don't change the topic, and don't play whatever crazy idea just came to your mind, you will never have any dirt on me, as I have never done anything wrong" said God of Virtue in an authoritative tone.
"Ok, Ok, I won't no need to get all bossy now, with me" replied God of Mischief.
"Ahh, listen here, Mischief, take this weighing balance, and remember every action has an equal and opposite reaction, as there are actions so exists the consequences, take this and remember to weigh your actions and their consequences before you do anything stupid," said God of Virtue in a calm, caring yet authoritative tone.
"Now, I am sending you back, I have other important tasks to attend"
"hey, so why did you summon me in the first pla......" The god of Mischief couldn't even finish his sentence and was back in his own plane.
----------------------------------------
"Ahh, those were also the days, hanh, I guess we were close, God of Virtue," said God of Mischief as he calmed down and sat while holding that showpiece, it's funny if you think, You were always worried that I might end up in the hands of the Council but here we are, does any of it makes sense, the Council, the High, and the Old Gods, going to such extends to make sure someone remains forgotten.
It's worth getting my hands on, I slowly started to think of a new prank that will make the Council, the High, and the Old Gods pay for their sin, you were right God of Virtue every action should have consequences...
... and I will make sure that those Gods equally receive that consequence.
----------------------------------------