Smiley tugged Ananke's clothes.
'It's fresh and right out of the ground.'
Tug
'For Cheap Price of—'
Tug
'Fruity Fruits—'
They were walking though the marketplace. Smiley's tugged on Ananke's clothes once more as the seller turned dark after focusing on them.
'They keep turning dark right after saying those lines.'
Ananke, who was deeply focused, nodded, 'I get the grist of it. It seems most of them are lying. Like the one who said "Its fresh" had a few days old fruits and some were already rotten. For "Cheap Price", it was just below normal price but their fruits were also old while for "juicy fruits", all his fruits were hard, meaning they had dried up.'
'So they were all lying?'
'Yea, it is possible that your eyes might be showing dark color for those who were lying to you while white color for those who are truthful.'
'But it does not work on everyone.'
'There might be some hidden conditions. Maybe you have to be close to them considering how those who were open to you were all white like Miss Selena even right after meeting you while the fruit sellers were dark…'
'Why did you pause? Or did you just realize that whatever you are saying does not make any sense since I am not close with fruit vendors…'
'Yea… but still, it is related to lying or truth.'
Smiley paused in realization, 'Now that you say it. I do hate when people overcharge me after lying about the price.'
'Is your desire really limited to not getting scammed by the merchants…'
'I know right? Isn't that amazing!'
'Amazing at how you are worrying about the things no one else has to even think of.'
Ananke stretched his hands in the air, 'Well that concludes our today's research. Let's go and gather our thoughts.'
'Hmm Kay.'
Just as he was about to tie it back, he caught the sight of the same man who was selling the holeless mask.
'I am going to try it with him.'
'Sure but you have already used your eyes a lot. If you are feeling anything then let me know. Corruption is no joke.'
Smiley walked up to him with asked, 'Hey Mister. How much is this mask?'
He looked at Smiley up and down, '1 Silver'
Smiley smiled arrogantly, 'Hehe now I will expose you of who you really are~'
But his thoughts slowed down before pausing entirely to find him shining white, 'Huh?'
Smiley rubbed his eyes and stared at him once more.
Still white.
Smiley secretly gestured Ananke to come.
Without even saying anything, the man looked Ananke up and down. '1 gold.'
Ananke spoke up 'I haven't even said anything yet!'
He stared at Ananke right into his eyes as a warning that the next price would be even higher.
Ananke and Smiley walked away as Ananke taunted, 'He must be black, No full darkness and abyss itself.'
'No… he was shining white… Pure white.'
'… Did we make a mistake?'
Smiley was lost in thoughts, 'No… he really was not lying. He asked the same price when I met him first but for you, he increased it from where he left off last time.'
'So it's like he changes his price depending on the person. Could it be that if a person truly believes his lie then it is not shown as black?'
'So hypocrites and delusionals are unpredictable?'
Ananke coughed feeling the "Delusional" was directed at him, 'If that is what you would like to call them.'
And it clicked, 'Wait could it be that it depends if the focused target is truthful to themself?'
He explained:
Like the Count and Tavern lady only turned white after you trusted them and were truthful to you while the fruit vendors turned black without you even trusting them since they were not even truthful to themselves. The only ones who turned white are Ayla, Tavern Lady, Count, Mask Vendor and me. Excluding the vendor, you trusted the others. While those vendors who remain grey in background are uncertain who never told a lie but don't turn white either since you do not trust them.
For Simplification:
Black = Tells Lie and Untrusted.
Grey = Tells Truth or Neutral but Untrusted or Uncertain.
White = Tells True and Trusted.
???? = Trusted but Lies.
'That is why you need to be careful, if a person does not know he is telling a lie or does not believe it then they might still be grey. Now we need to see what happens if a person who has turned white lies to you. You can test it out on me.'
Smiley froze as he realized he could no longer keep the lie of Ananke being dark.
Smiley thought, 'I will act like I have overused my eye and pretend to fall down to escape this. Its not a lie since my eyes are already twitching.'
Smiley's eye was twitching from overuse. He tied his eyepatch but stumbled upon his foot and fell backwards only to be collided with someone behind him but that person caught him.
The woman said, 'And you need to learn how to stop using your eyes or it will suck the life out of you. After all, having two different visions is not ideal for an untrained mind.'
'Oh thank you…'
Smiley was embarrassed about how he dragged her into his acting.
Smiley paused…
'Wait. No one is supposed to know about this'
He looked toward Ananke who was surprised to see this woman.
Smiley turned around to find a blonde haired woman who seemed elegant wearing the same old black priestess clothing and white cloak over it.
But this time she was wearing a ring on her pinky finger and missing the large green gem on her clothes collar.
Smiley instantly knew who she was. No rather why was she alive.
'You are the one from the Hero statue, aren't you? Aliena…'
Smiley's eyes were bright like he met the heroes of his dreams.
'I am flattered to still be this well known among the new generation. But who are you are supposed to be—'
Ananke pulled Smiley behind him, 'Why are you here?'
Smiley felt Ananke hesitating for the first time ever since he has been with him.
'Do I need a reason to be here. So tell me, who is that child?'
It suddenly clicked for Ananke, 'Wait... How come she doesn't know who he is…'
As she wondered, 'How come I don't know who he is…'
'She is the Eternally Regressing* Priestess. The one who recruited me to join their cause. So why does she not know who Smiley is?'
{*^Note: Regressing = Going back in time to a certain event while retaining their memories.}
Ananke answered, 'Ha~ I don't know. I found him in the new void all alone.'
'You mean the "Janitor from another world" Void?'
'He was playing a "Noble of a ruined kingdom" this time.'
'I am delighted to hear he is still at it but did we not tell you to stay put and not to try it yourself?'
'You took too long so I went inside.'
'That's unlike you. You are hiding something, aren't you?'
Seeing Ananke hesitating, she figured out she was correct and continued, 'You were lucky not to die. He is stronger than all of us combined. A force of nature to be reckoned with. By the time we arrived, you had disappeared as we were unable to locate you afterwards.'
'Don't you guys know how to track me?'
'We thought so. But your entire soul vanished so we thought you had died in an all out battle. But still it would have been a far better outcome if you did—'
Smiley cut in, 'I thought you guys were heroes but in the end you are bad guys with loose screws. Did living a hundred years make your mind go dull?'
Aliena nervously coughed, 'Maybe I did take it a bit far. What I meant to say was that Elenbel is so strong by nature so if Ananke had defeated him in an all out battle. That would have meant Ananke was super strong—'
'So what? You mean dying at the price of killing a broken man was better than him being able to defeat that man by himself?'
Smiley eyes locked onto her's:
'He is not a lemon who is to be juiced of all his worth just to be thrown away.'
'… is that a "Life gives you lemon" pun?'
'So what if it is? No one deserves to live as a throwable pawn.'
Said the one who was hiding behind the "Thrownable Pawn". Smiley was like a hissing cat hiding behind Ananke. Completely trusting him as he told her off.
Despite that, Smiley's eyes were obviously hostile towards her. Completely different from the eyes which looked at her like a hero.
Ananke tried defending her, 'It's alright. She is a bit loose in her mind and got loose screws but she isn't a bad guy.'
Smiley pulled Ananke away saying. 'It's a lost cause. She will infect you with her stupidity.'
Aliena recalled those disappointed eyes of Smileys as she felt her heartbeat, 'Huh… I was sure I was devoid of all those emotions so why— why did I feel disappointed.'
She looked at Smiley, 'What is with that boy? Where did he come from? Why does he feel— so nostalgic?'
She grabbed onto her wrist like a child told off, rejected from his candy.
She slightly trembled, 'And what is this warmth I am feeling?'
…
'I feel like I am forgetting something…'