"Going somewhere, are we?" The voice boomed loud and clear in the hallway. The metal walls pressed close on both sides, making the hallway appear narrower than it actually was. And in this narrow hallway, Samuel turned around with a toothy grin.
"Indeed. And what of you?" He chuckled as his eyes fell upon a familiar figure. A man dressed in a fine suit. His black hair was a bit sprawled, but otherwise appropriately styled and his eyes bore into his figure like a hawk.
"Winston Heath?" The name slipped off his tongue.
Winston chuckled, "Feeling brave today? Normally you'd be freaking out right about now."
Samuel walked to one of the walls and leaned his back on it. Shrugging his shoulders, he spoke. "Not necessarily. I was here to do something, but it seems I've been found out."
"I presume it has something to do with a certain someone named Theolis?" Winston strode closer without a worry. He too leaned his back on the wall, just a meter away from Samuel.
"Maybe."
"Cut the crap." Winston turned his head, his tone turning serious. "What are you here for?"
"Would you believe me if I said I wanted to say a final goodbye?"
Winston raised an eyebrow.
"Don't get me wrong." Samuel shook his hand, "I don't mean for myself. I mean it for you. After all... I don't think you'll survive very long..."
His red eyes gleamed in the dark.
Winston locked eyes with him, staring him down. Samuel did the same.
Then, Winston couldn't control it any longer.
"Puff!" He laughed. "Hahaha!"
His laugh echoed in the hallway, ringing out to the far end. It continued on for some time, almost half a minute and Samuel did not utter a single word throughout the ordeal.
"Man... you're actually serious." Winston shook his head. "Either you're delusional, or you're crazy. Pick your poison."
"I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a bit crazy." Samuel closed his eyes and leaned his head back. "Your confidence is commendable."
"And so is your idiocy."
Samuel held a sardonic smirk.
Then, he pushed himself off the wall and turned right towards him. He removed his hat with one hand and flexed his neck.
"Winston Heath. The irregular. The Silent Leviathan and the being most would consider out of their reach, only to be looked at with the reverence reserved for gods." He began to walk, passing Winston by. He turned his hat and began to pat it.
"You were something I underestimated. I'll admit that without shame. If I had dealt with you on the test floor itself, perhaps things wouldn't have gotten to this point." Winston didn't speak.
"But...."
Samuel turned around.
"That isn't to say all hope is lost for me, is it?"
"I'm pretty sure is it." Winston interjected, making Samuel let out a soft laugh.
"We'll find out soon enough, won't we?" His red eyes stared him down.
Then, he extended his hand and pointed to him.
"You. I declare an all out war on you. All of you, versus all of me."
Winston snorted. "It seems I've underestimated your retardedness."
"You can't stop a drowning man from struggling with all his might." He said. "And only time will tell which is the man drowning, and which is standing in the boat. Farewell, Winston Heath.
"We shall meet soon. Sooner than you think." He laughed. "I am ready to black out now."
Winston narrowed his eyes and instantly, Samuel felt as if his joints were filled with rust. His thoughts slowed down to a standstill, and then, he blacked out.
Winston's tired voice sighed.
Slowly, he remembered his experience in the test floor.
"What a joke..."
Suddenly, he had an idea.
And felt himself ascend.
...
Winston opened his eyes and ascended somewhere infinity high up. He saw a gray fog overlap him, and instantly, he appeared in a large expanse. The fog hung around him, twisting without any breeze as if it were alive. Winston felt himself revert to his semi-mythical creature form.
Hundreds of worms began to crawl beneath his skin and malicious tentacles began to grow out in protrusions from his muscles. In just a few moments, his entire body had transformed into abstract symbolism.
Winston smiled as he saw something glinting far in the gray fog.
There was a pair of eyes that seemed to be plucked from star dust. There was a blank mask with a small smile and curving eyes. And a crystal monocle. All of them hung blankly in the fog, behind them were a collection of bottles.
A sequence 2, and three sequence 1s.
Winston now knew where the potions had been coming from. Every time he felt he could summon them, he would always feel that they were right beside him but infinitely far away. It was a lingering doubt, but it had been confirmed the moment he became a sequence 3.
When he ascended, he had been able to ascend to the sefirah castle, the sefirot of the lord of mysteries; with his spiritual body.
His real body had been hidden away in the fogs of history, infinitely far down from him.
Winston closed his eyes, and a change happened in the gray fog. From the mist, arose a giant castle.
Pillars, hundreds of centuries old arose from under him and a deep mottled stone table appeared in the center, around which were a collection of 22 chairs.
Winston felt his lips curl up.
He had arrived in the sefirah castle.
Slowly, he floated up and circled the table, dragging his hand along it's stone surface. Then, without so much a thought, he took his seat on the seat of honor.
A symbol appeared above his chair. It was a collection of doors, glowing and glinting with various eyes and worms and tentacles.
Feeling the chair under his hands, Winston's ancient voice sighed.
The uniquenesses of the Fool, the Error and the Door appeared on the table, same with the potions.
He observed all of them for a moment, then, extending his hand, he took the mask in his hand.
His eyes glinted in the gray fog and his grin grew wider.
In the end, he held up the mask to his face, and slowly put it on.
...
From the gray fog, a man suddenly appeared. It was the materialization of his new marionette, Samuel Helmons. The albino male looked completely dead, his eyes staring blankly at the air.
Winston, who sat with a mask on his face crossed his legs and summoned a small suspendium coin.
Twing!
The coin snapped into the air, spinning wildly before falling right on the table.
Winston didn't bother to check whether it was heads or tails. At Sequence 3, especially powered by the Fool's Uniqueness, flicking the coin was a mere symbolic gesture.
His vision exploded into a menagerie of colours, every possible combination mingling into one and then clearing up to show him something.
And the vision left him confused.
It was the image of a theater.
The seats were unoccupied, except for two in the middle row. He couldn't see their faces clearly. The screen played a B grade movie, 'Adventures of Quant.'
Finding nothing more he could discern from the vision, Winston sank into his stone chair and opened his eyes.
"That theater again..." He muttered. His voice came out husky and old; as if he had seen centuries' worth of time.
His visions were always plenty straightforward. Rarely were they symbolic. He could count on one hand when his divination had given him a symbolic answer that wasn't obvious at a glance.
And one of them was when he had received the three tarot cards, kept in a room that overlooked a theater...
It's possible that the theater is a literal place and not symbolism. And those two individuals... maybe Samuel is related to them. An avatar like the one's I can make? A puppet? His eyes narrowed beneath the mask.
He held the mask from his face and pulled it off. Then, his hand grasped the crystal monocle and the star forged eyes.
Slowly, he chortled.
"War huh... Last time, I was the one to declare war on the Jahad Empire. An individual challenging the entire tower. And now, another individual is challenging me... how interesting."
He leaned his head on the chair and donned the crystal monocle.
"It will be a glorious battle... and when I ascend in sequence and break through whatever that place is... that'll be the end of you, Samuel Helmons."
And then, he plummeted.
...
Tiara sat tiredly in the air ship, watching the surroundings blur past by the glass window. She was travelling to the last station.
It's been quite a while since I've seen Winston. She thought to herself. Unconsciously, her lips curled up ever so slightly. Knowing him, he probably didn't miss me too much.
For a moment, she pouted and felt a pang of annoyance stir in her heart.
Just then, cold clarity washed over her.
"What is this? Me? Getting annoyed over something like this?" Her eyes shook in alarm. She held her head with both hands and looked around in wariness and puzzlement. "Someone has to be casting a spell on me. It's not Winston is it?"
Finding no one in the room beside her, she slumped into her chair and groaned.
"Damn you! Winston!"
Unbeknownst to her, a priest sat calmly in the corner with a book in hand. His golden irises glanced at her as she threw a fit.
"What did I do?"
...
A/N: I have a proposition for you people.
Get my re zero fanfic to 300 stones and I will post two bonus chapters. It's just good business. Savvy?
Anyway, Lord of Mysteries character trailers look absolutely insane. I cannot wait for the anime.