Winston fell through the historical void. His figure which had been hiding in history leapt into the present again, and right behind him fell the body of Zarhan.
Winston vomited a mouthful of blood as he fell.
At that moment, a stone square floating in the void appeared beneath his feet. Pillars rose from the square, instantly forming a grand collection of hallways that extended on both sides.
And then, came then impact.
Thud!
He groaned. He had forgotten what it was like to be actually in pain. Most of the time, it was shared across his avatars or could be substituted to an afterimage or a paper figurine.
Thud!
Another body fell beside him. It was no doubt Zarhan.
The body didn't move. Winston turned his head and saw that Zarhan was out cold. His eyes narrowed in thought.
He observed the space around him.
Pillars rose in both directions, supporting a ceiling laden with surprisingly modern architecture. LED lights were laden on the ceiling and strange display plates were on the wall. They depicted various names of movies. Some he even remembered watching with Amon and Zarhan.
He got up to his feet with a groan.
Being a Sequence 3, and composed of various maggots and worms, such damage wasn't enough to kill him. It was basically something he would consider as a skin wound.
However, that was not his concern.
He could not call upon his spirituality anymore. The purpose of the spear was not to harm him, but to seal his beyonder powers.
Such a form of suppression could not naturally be broken by the authorities of the door pathway, because the authorities in question were the subjects of the sealing.
He felt that he could pull it out with his strength, but didn't make any sudden moments, choosing to observe first and act later.
This is strikingly like when Mr. Fool was stabbed by Gherman Sparrow... to think I fell for the same thing. And to think it was Zarhan. Who would've thought that the Zulasekail lineage was actually descendants of Enryu? And that Enryu could jump into the historical void?
This was a blunder on my part... I didn't bother to check anything. I grew too confident.
Just then, clarity washed over him.
I couldn't have... even if that were the case, my spirituality would have alerted me. Come to think of it, such matters have been happening from the start. Even at the floor of tests, during the submerged fish hunt.
Still feeling the prickly sensation in his chest, he grasped the tip of the spear.
"I wouldn't pull that out if I were you."
Suddenly, a voice alerted his senses.
He turned around so fast he felt as if he had hurt his neck.
And there, standing between two large pillars was an unassuming man.
He wore a large hoodie and covered his grayish black hair and his eyes were a deep sheen of silver. He had a broad nose bridge and his jawline was prominent.
The man pulled back his hoodie, letting his short but messy gray hair out and shook his head.
With a smile, he pointed ahead into the long hallway, where the passage took a sharp turn.
"Care to join me?"
...
Tap. Tap.
Their footsteps reverberated loudly in the hallway. Winston followed right beside the man, the spear still lodged into his torso.
"I've been expecting you for quite some time now. You're quite the celebrity in the tower you know." The man chuckled.
"And is this a fan meet up then?" Winston asked.
"You can think of it as such." He shrugged his shoulders. The display plates on both sides went on and on and eventually, they found themselves in a large room.
Along the left wall, a counter was erected and various forms of popcorn and beverages were being offered. Sadly, no one was behind the counters.
"Then are you going to offer me some popcorn at the least?" Winston felt his lips tug into a small smirk.
The man walked forward and scooped up some popcorn from the machine. Then, he put them in a bucket and handed it to him.
"Let's go. We might miss the show." The man put his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and began to walk towards one of the cinema halls.
On the top, the name of a movie Winston remembered to have watched long ago was written.
'Awaara.' The name read.
His eyes narrowed further.
The man opened the door and waited for him to enter with a smile.
Winston didn't linger and walked into the theater. The door closed behind him.
"This is one of my favourites. It's a social commentary about the societal divide between the poor and the rich. It tackles a lot of themes about the life of crime, being an 'awaara' and finding happiness in the darkest of times. It's also quite the musical. Sadly, I've never finished it. Do you think we can finish it today?"
Winston threw a momentary glance at him as they walked to the back of the theater and took their seats.
"It depends." He answered.
They were seated on the second last row from the top. For a few moments, the theater darkened. And then the screen came alive with motion.
As the movie began, Winston's mind churned with thoughts. Various visions from his own memory began to arise unbidden. Various instances where he faced strange coincidences. Various instances when he ignored obvious things and signals from his intuition. Instances where he didn't behave like himself and did things on a whim.
The starting of the movie passed and as the protagonist on the screen grew up and began to sing about himself, Winston turned to face the man.
The hoodie was over his head and his eyes were plastered to the screen.
"Phantaminum."
The man didn't move. But Winston saw his lips tug a little wider.
"I've had visions of this theater many times before. What is this place?"
Phantaminum brought his finger to his lips and said, "shhh.. I like this song. Wait for it to end."
Winston leaned back into his seat and focused on the film again.
The moment the song ended, Phantaminum's voice rang into his ears.
"This is... hmm.. how to say. I suppose you can call this a form of domain." He gestured to the walls. "Everything is made from my power. Here, I define the rules. I prefer the movie theater because it gives me entertainment."
"So the reason you've never finished the movie is because you don't know how it ends." Winston chuckled. "You can only manifest what you know or exists in the tower."
"Ding ding! You get 100 points! Sadly, there's nothing to spend them on!"
The movie continued to roll. Lights kept flashing on the side of their faces.
"And why am I here?"
"You?" Phantaminum turned to him with a mischievous grin. "You know how it ends don't you? So today, I'll finally be able to finish it."
"Quite the fan meetup this is."
Phantaminum chortled, "Well that's just hurtful. You don't sound like you're happy to be here."
"You made my own friend stab me in the torso." Winston pointed to the red spear.
"I don't presume anyone would be happy for it."
"I'm willing to bet I can find at least one person." He shook his head.
"Stop the movie."
The movie paused.
Winston looked at him without any change in expression.
Phantaminum grabbed a remote from somewhere and tapped one of the buttons.
The screen instantly switched to show Winston when he was on the floor of tests, during the submerged fish hunt.
"I was the one to guide your thoughts here." The screen switched to when Winston realized someone was manipulating everything on the test floor.
"I was the one watching you all the time."
The screen flipped again. Again and again it showed different scenes. His fight with Kallavan. His meeting with Hwaryun. Him ascending to Sequence 5 and then 4. His fight with Yuri. All of his avatars training on the floor of death.
"Why are you showing me this?" Winston asked, feeling wary and puzzled.
He could not wrap his head around this person's point of thinking. In the end, what was the point of trapping him? He had never gained any animosity towards this man.
"In all respects, we are natural opposites. But also similar in many ways. Both of us are able to shake the predestined fate of the tower. Unluckily for you, I happen to be an axis."
"An axis?"
"A being that can create and influence a story." Phantaminum chuckled. "The tower holds a special story in it's wake. A story must be safeguarded. I am it's protector and the one to withhold the words of another axis, albeit weaker than me."
His limpid eyes were shining and curious.
"You and I are alike in that regard. Both are able to steer fate into a single direction."
But I'm the Beacon of Destiny. Not you...
Winston felt a bit petty in his heart but didn't show it on his face.
As if sensing his thoughts, Phantaminum broke into a light chuckle.
"Sadly, you have thrown the course of the story off. For that reason, I will have to keep you here until the destined one can kill the king."
Winston raised a brow. More and more, he began to see an image of the Visionary in this irregular.
"Your avatars will be taken care of by my friend. He has been altered by my power. Soon, your avatars will join you again here. In here, the concept of time is varied. An hour in here can be as much as 100 years outside. It all depends on me.
"You might not know when you got my ire. To be honest, even I don't know the exact moment.
"But we are old acquaintances."
"Acquaintances?" Winston smiled dryly. This scene reminded him more and more about Mr. Fool's meet with Adam.
"Indeed. But it looks like you still haven't realized it. Ah, I have something that might make you aware." He spoke.
With that said, he smiled and said, "We meet again, Mysteries."
...
...
...
[End of Volume 2 - Hunter in the Waves]
And so, the twist arrives.
For those of you who didn't get it, Samuel Helmons had always been Phantaminum. Well, at least a subordinate to him. Sensing the change in fate, naturally, the keeper of the tower of God storyline intervened.
This story was all inspired by an edit I saw on Adam's one dialogue - "We meet again, Mysteries."
Anyway, I wouldn't want to delay Volume 3 very much. It will begin shortly. I can't give you an exact day though. Just keep an eye out I guess.
Also, now that everything has been connected and all the plotholes and stupid decisions have been covered by a single chapter, I implore you. Make a review.
...
Anyways, be sure to check out my patreon. Although you won't find this story on there, there's two of my other stories on there.
As always, Throw some stones.
Cheers~