Arc 85 - Rapture (Part 4)

Nazar and his family were driving in a car. His father was driving the car. It was SUV. He and Emma were sitting in the back seat.

Nazar looked around uncomfortably.

It all started when he saw his face in the small mirror. As he looked it, the face in the reflection started to bleed. Blood started pouring down from his eyes and then his mouth. And then… and then, the reflection smiled at Nazar.

He quickly averted his gaze from the mirror. He looked outside and saw a car next to theirs.

The driver slowly looked his way and started to smile. Blood started to come out of her eyes, mouth and ears. And even then, she smiled.

The car then started to move past them.

Nazar started to tremble. And his heart rate suddenly jumped.

With his trembling hand, he finally managed to tap his hand and a small screen appeared.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“N-Nothing.”

He manoeuvred through the settings page.

- Soundproofing. -

Only Nazar heard her.

- Creating an illusion. -

“Thanks.”

While the car was moving, Nazar jumped off it. But no one noticed him because to them, he was still sitting down. He also remembered that he told Solace not to camouflage him.

However, he was visible to everyone else. But due to his speed, they did not notice who it was.

They were in the middle of the city, so Nazar jumped up and then started to run on the footpath.

As he was running, he saw everyone’s face change. First, their eyes started to bleed, then their mouth, then their ears and then a very, very thin smile.

He ran across them for a minute, but he could not take it anymore. He held his eyes with his hand, but he was not paying attention, so he crashed into a small digital billboard at the bus stop.

When he smashed into the billboard, it broke.

When he stood up, he was surrounded by people.

He looked around and saw them smiling and blood was pouring down. And then all of their faces were replaced by the Nameless One’s face… or rather his own.

“Ah. You said I could never break you.”

“Ah. You said I could never break you.”

“Ah. You said I could never break you.”

They all said this at the same time. Their voices were synced. Every single voice was different, which made it even more creepy for Nazar.

He held his head in his hands.

He then covered his ears, but he could hear them.

“Solace?”

- Yes, Master? -

“Teleport.”

Nazar was immediately teleported to his room.

He laid down on the bed. He was trembling uncontrollably. His vision flickered. He could not see anything.

- Damn it. -

Nazar could not hear Solace.

- Accessing digitalised memories. -

Screens started to appear all over the small room.

- Increasing resolution. -

Something started to appear in all those screens.

- Enhancing image. -

Images of Laura appeared on the screen.

- Enhancing audio. -

And then her voice followed.

“- It looks so peaceful from here, right? -”

(Laura...)

“- I don’t care what kind of person you are. -”

Nazar opened his eyes. He started to see the light again.

“- So, do you want to kiss now? -”

He looked around and saw all these screens.

“- Is this your wedding vow? -”

He finally stopped trembling.

“- Please don’t die. -”

All the screens were projecting Laura. It was all from Nazar’s memories.

After a few minutes, he stopped trembling and he was perfectly fine.

(What have I been reduced to?) Nazar thought.

He sat on his bed for a few minutes.

- Someone might notice. Do you want me to let them know or shall I teleport you back there? -

“Just… Teleport me there. And enable camouflage this time.”

Nazar appeared in the car once again and no one noticed anything.

After a minute or so, Solace removed the illusion.

And after a little while, the car stopped and they all got out.

They parked the car behind the small cafe.

“We have been coming here for many years,” John said.

“Uh?” Nazar looked confused.

“This is the only cafe I ever go to.”

“Wait, I know this place.”

“It is Mikasa’s cafe.”

“Ah. I see.”

Once they entered the cafe, there were only three people there. They were sitting at another table. The cafe was small, so it had only a few tables. There was a small kitchen at the back and there was a small counter, right in front of the small kitchen.

When they entered, there was a familiar person there. Mikasa Jones, Emily and Jake’s mother. She has been operating her own cafe for a very long time.

“Oh, hi, everyone. Welcome,” Mikasa said as soon as they entered the place. Nazar was only camouflaged to everyone else, so Mikasa saw who it was.

“Oh, hi, John,” one of the customers who was sitting there said.

The other two looked at him and smiled.

“Um… who are they?” Nazar whispered to Emma.

“The old man is called Robert. He is a friend of dad. And I don’t know the other two -- wait, one of them goes to my college. She is a classmate.”

“Do you want Solace to camouflage you?”

“No, no. We… we are not really friends or anything, so it's alright.”

“I see.”

They sat at another table and John went over to say hi to the other person.

“John, how have you been?”

“Great. How about you?”

“I am great as always.”

They were rather loud.

John sat on one of the chairs next to him and started talking.

Nazar did not try to look at anyone he did not know. Every time he sees someone new, the Nameless One’s picture replaced their face.

“So, why are we here?” Nazar asked Emma and his mother.

“We usually come here to talk with Mikasa and have breakfast,” Emma replied to his question.

“A bit weird, but okay.”

Nazar looked around. And this time, the place looked a little different.

A waitress came to their table with a small piece of paper in her hand and a pen. She did not have a uniform like Nazar was expecting.

“The usual?” She said.

“Yes, please,” Mary replied.

She then looked at Nazar (whom she saw as someone else, with completely different facial features and looks) and became a little confused.

“And for you sir?”

“The same as them,” Nazar said immediately.

“Okay.”

She then left.

“So, what do you guys have usually?”

“Coffee, some sausages, some eggs, with beans. And I usually get some cake with it too.” Emma said.

“Weird but okay.”

Emma gave him a blank look.

They stayed there for a while and ate their breakfast.

When they finished eating, the waitress took the stuff away and brought them extra coffee, with cake. They sat there and ate it.

“Chocolate cake is not that bad?” Nazar said.

“Wait, you have never had it before?” Emma looked surprised.

“I am not sure. I never really liked sweets.”

“How did you survive without sweets?”

“I--”

“Actually, I don’t want to know.”

“Okay.”

“Anyway, do you always have to keep that…the other face on?” Mary asked.

“People get scared.”

While they were talking, Robert and the other two left the cafe.

When they left, Mikasa joined them.

“So, how are you doing, Nazar? You looked… sick? And you still do,” Mikasa said.

“I am fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Nazar lowered his gaze.

“Can we talk some time? Me, you, Oliver and Jake?”

“About?” Mikasa looked confused.

“About Emily? About what Emma told you?”

“Ah. Yes, whenever you want.”

“Okay.”

“So, what she said was true?”

“Yes. But I want to tell you again. With all the details.”

Nazar chuckled.

“Maybe Emma missed something. And maybe it would be better if you heard it from again. I don’t know.”

“Okay. Also, you might want to make eye contact with people when you are talking to them.”

They all laughed.

“I… will try.”

“Want anything special to eat?” She lowered her voice. “We sell fried chicken too. Want some?”

“No, don’t give him any of that,” Emma said.

Nazar gave her a blank look.

“I have not had chicken in a very long time.”

- You had chicken on Thursday. -

“Solace, shut up!”

Mikasa looked confused.

“Who or what is Solace’?”

“His AI.”

An N-Sphere appeared.

- I am Solace. Nice to meet you. -

“It looks so cute. It all round and shiny.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Emma said excitingly. “Norse God said something about her physical form. Can you show it to us?”

“No,” Nazar replied immediately.

“Please.”

- This is also my physical form. -

“No, but Norse God said something about a female form.”

- Master? -

“Don’t do it,” Nazar said. “It’s… it’s embarrassing.”

“My, my. Now, I definitely want to see that,” Mikasa said.

Nazar thought for a minute.

“Just erase it from your mind after this, okay? Promise?”

They all nodded.

Solace appeared in her physical form.

She had red hair, big breasts, white skin, big blue eyes, and she was wearing a maid uniform. However, unlike last time, she was not wearing a mini skirt.

“Hahaha. This is hilarious,” Mikasa said.

Solace wrapped her arms around Nazar from the back. She placed her chin on Nazar’s head.

“I am keeping his body warm,” Solace said in an expressionless face. “His body temperature is very low. When I am in my physical form, I cannot keep the small barrier around him.”

Nazar picked up the cup of coffee from the table and took a sip of it.

“I see,” Emma said while laughing. “But this is really funny. Never thought I would see this day.”

“Maybe you should get a girlfriend. Being with a robot is kind of weird,” Mary said. “How about that girl with a big chest that came with you about a month ago?”

Nazar was about to throw away all the coffee from his mouth, but he managed to not do that, so instead, he coughed.

“So, Emma, how is the final year of college starting out?” Nazar changed the subject.

Emma sighed.

“It’s so boring.”

“What are you studying?”

“Computer Science, Graphic Design, and Maths.”

“That sounds so boring.”

“Well, I want to do game design, so I don’t find it that boring. Except for maths. I find it really hard and boring, but I have to study it for uni.”

“I see. Well, if you ever need help, just ask me.”

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

“What?”

“This is weird, right?” Mikasa asked.

“Yes,” Mary said as she nodded.

“What is so weird about me helping someone?”

“Everything. Have you ever helped anyone like this?” Emma asked.

Nazar thought for a minute.

“No?”

“Exactly!”

“Maybe I will start helping from now on?”

“That is a bit...unusual?” Mikasa said with a confused expression.

They all nodded.

Someone entered the shop.

Mikasa stood up.

“I will see you guys later.”

The person who entered was a woman with black hair, brown eyes and brown skin. She was the Goddess of Knowledge. As soon as she entered the place, she looked Nazar straight in the eyes. She smiled and then winked at him.

She walked closer to their table, which made everyone confused.

“Can we talk, Nazar? In private, I mean,” She said.

“Solace?”

- She can see through it. And her power levels are off the charts. -

Nazar sighed.

“I need to go.”

“Where?” Emma said.

“Just stay here. She is dangerous.”

He stood up and walked out with her.

“You have covered your tracks well, Nazar,” she said while smiling.

“Who are you?”

“I am the Goddes of the Knowledge.”

“Goddess?”

Nazar did not even pretend to be surprised.

“I am one of the Omega People.”

“Omega People?”

“Yes. We are the Gods of this universe.”

Nazar sighed.

“Our ruler is called Omegan.”

“I don’t care about that.”

She stopped walking.

“Well, you should. We are the Gods of this universe. And you are messing with our powers on this planet. So, you must die.”

Nazar gave her a surprised look.

“Y-you are kidding, right?”

“No. Why would I?”

“...”

“It is not my mission, but you are weak now. It is our best chance. And I want to be the one to do it.”

“But I don’t want to--”

“I don’t care.”

She punched Nazar in the chest.

“Bwergh?!?!”

Nazar was thrown across the street. Then onto a department store.

He flew through the wall of the department store and then through a few pillars and then only stopped when he reached the closed elevator door.

She flew through the broken wall and stood above Nazar, who is coughing blood while lying down.

She smiled.

“I am your death.”

Her fist came crashing down towards Nazar.