The name 'Earth' hung in the quiet study like a struck bell. Lucid felt a sudden, sharp pang in his chest. It was a physical ache, a homesickness so deep it stole his breath for a second. Memories flashed, unbidden: the smell of rain on concrete, the sound of his old school bell, the faces of friends he'd never see again. Lately, he'd been so busy just trying to survive that he hadn't let himself think of it. Of home.
He forced his expression to stay neutral behind the mist. He could not sound suspicious. Telling this clever, calculating noble he was from a lost, mythical civilization would be the height of foolishness. Karmen seemed nice enough, but Lucid had no doubt the man would lock him in a dungeon to pry answers out of him if he thought it would help.
"Earth... I remember that guard, the short one. Bjorn, was it? He said it was part of some prophecy, if my memory serves right," Alice said in his mind. She sounded unsure.
Whether she had caught his train of thought or not, he didn't care. It wasn't like the little voice in his head could tell anyone. For now, he would play oblivious.
"Well, it is that prophecy, right? A fallen civilization, upon which the scattered realms are built upon," Lucid said, keeping his tone conversational, like a student recalling a lesson.
"If I remember, that civilization fell because of the rifts, right?" he continued, drawing on what he had read in the library. It seemed to him this whole world, these scattered realms, were something that came after Earth's fall. The thought made his stomach clench. If he was truly in the far future, then any hope of going back was impossible. But then again, the Awakened, the Enlightened, were capable of incredible things. Aika herself had powers that bent time in his old cohort back on earth. He remembered that clearly.
"Well, what does it matter if I believe in it or not?" Lucid muttered, shrugging. "It's not like that civilization is coming back anytime soon."
Karmen laughed, a soft, wheezing sound. "Well, do you believe that by having faith, you could change that?"
"Faith..." Lucid repeated the word. It felt strange in this context.
"Faith is a strong term," Karmen elaborated. He leaned back, steepling his fingers. "Say, if I told you I had faith that I would live to see tomorrow... I would be expressing a hope, a will for reality to bend a certain way."
Lucid narrowed his eyes, confused.
'What is he babbling on about?' he thought.
Alice chimed in, her tone thoughtful. "I... have some input. By having faith in a deity, or a concept, our wishes and thoughts may materialize as mankind wants them to."
Lucid could only feel more confused. What did faith have to do with anything? Was this governor trying to convert him to some cult he led, or was this actually some piece of hidden truth?
"I am sorry, I don't quite follow..." Lucid began, but Alice cut in, her voice gaining certainty as she spoke.
"The rifts materialize because of faith. Or rather, because of faith that is lost, or faith that goes unanswered. If a people have a deep, collective belief in something, a god, a future, a way of life, and that belief is shattered, or if it is never received by any higher power, that energy does not vanish. It runs wild. It tears at the fabric of things. It causes one of these rifts to open, leading to other dimensions, causing all these disasters and problems we see."
"How do you know all that?" Lucid asked her silently, stunned.
"I... don't," Alice replied, sounding just as surprised. "The knowledge is just... there. Like remembering how to breathe."
"Is there something?" Karmen asked. He sounded confused, his sharp eyes watchful. His clothes and hair were perfectly sharp, a stark contrast to his tired face.
"No, nothing," Lucid said quickly, shaking his head. He grasped for a new question, something to steer the conversation away from his own reaction. "I have one question for you."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what the Fallen are?"
Karmen was deep in thought for a moment. "A 'Fallen'... my apologies, but I am not familiar with that specific term."
"Those creatures. The monsters in the rifts, the ones that come out of them," Lucid pressed.
"Ah," Karmen said, nodding in understanding. "You mean The Unfaithful. I must say, I have never heard the term you used, but yes. The Unfaithful are beings that come from other realms, corrupted by runaway faith, or by the complete absence of it. It is said that once an entire realm is devoid of any faith, from humans, from animals, from the very land, the beings there warp into twisted creatures. They are doomed to roam, hungry and empty, for all eternity."
He took a slow sip of his drink. "But that is not the case for the Scattered Realms. We have many faiths, many beliefs. They anchor our world. However, I fear that in another dimension, or on another world... that might be the exact case. And if that is true," he said, his blue eyes locking onto Lucid's shrouded face, "then that could be the very tragedy that befell Earth. A world that believed in a future that never came. A faith that shattered, and in shattering, broke the world itself."
"Interesting," Lucid said, the word feeling utterly inadequate. Inside, his mind was reeling. The Unfaithful. The things he had fought in the trial, the monsters from his own Rift... were they the twisted remains of his own people? The thought was too horrible to fully hold.
Karmen looked at a ornate clock on the wall, its hands inching forward. He suddenly looked worried, the scholarly act dropping for a second to reveal the stressed governor beneath.
"Oh, I have blabbered on for too long. I called you here for a reason, Lucid."
Lucid lifted an eyebrow behind his mist. "What do you mean?"
"You saved my town from the grasp of a rift, and I am thankful. Truly. However..." Karmen leaned forward again, his elbows on the desk, his hands clasped in front of his mouth. His gaze was intense, no longer tired, but sharp and demanding. "...there is another rift. One that has not closed. It festers in the old mining tunnels north of town. It has already claimed lives. It is growing. The town watch cannot handle it. Enlightened mercenaries demand a fortune I cannot spare from the town's resources."
'There are Enlightened in this world?' He thought.
He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.
"I want you to go inside that rift and clear it. Before it is too late, and before it grows large enough to spill its Unfaithful into our streets."
"That is..." Alice's voice chimed in, heavy with weariness and concern.
Lucid stared at Karmen. The request, or rather, the order, was staggering. He had barely survived the last one by luck and Alice's intervention. This was not a chaotic, open rift in a square. This was a festering wound in the dark, where anything could be waiting.
"This is the help you need from me?" Lucid asked, his voice flat.
"It is the first task," Karmen corrected gently, as if offering a promotion. "You have proven you can survive where others cannot. You are an anomaly, Lucid. Anomalies can solve problems that normal people cannot. Do this, and you will have more than my thanks. You will have my trust, my resources, and answers to questions you have not even thought to ask yet about the nature of this world. And about your own place in it."
He made it sound so reasonable. A simple trade. Risk your life in a hole filled with monsters, and get a powerful ally.
But Lucid saw the trap now, clear as day. Karmen, who was a powerful noble asked him to risk his life without even being paid before hand, if he died inside that rift he could continue seeking solutions with no profits lost. He was one greedy individual, least it seemed to lucid. Karmen needed a tool to probe the rifts. He had decided Lucid was that tool.
Lucid looked at the noble's expectant face, at the carefully constructed mask of concern and desperation. He saw the blood still faint on the man's lips.
"Alright," Lucid said, the word tasting like ash. "I'll do it."
"Are you sure?" Alice sounded worried inside him.
"I'll do it" he said confidently both to himself Alice and Karmen
Karmen's smile was one of deep satisfaction. "Excellent. Supplies will be provided. You leave at first light. Gerald will give you the details." He stood, signaling the audience was over. "Rest well, Lucid. You have a big day tomorrow."
"And you will not be alone... one person will accompany you.. do not worry he is talented..." he called out behind him forgetting to add something.
As Lucid was led out by the silent butler, the governor's final words echoed in his head.
He was not being sent on a mission. He was being sent into a lab experiment. And Karmen would be watching, taking notes. It gave Lucid a terrible sensation, one of like being taken advantage over.