Chapter 41 - Gates Of Hell

01.09.1642

The Underground City

43:56

[CHE5TER]-...What?

[General]-Almost-Human! You are one of my species! H-How... So that's why the ore led me to this city?? To find another one like me??

[CHE5TER]-I think you drank too much, buddy. You are talking nonsense and I can't understand a word...

[General]-I-I'm serious! I'm telling you the truth! You and I are Almost-Humans!

[CHE5TER]-And how should I know that you are not fooling around?

[General]-I-I'm not! The sign on your back is my proof! Listen to me!!

Of course this information is so random and CHE5TER can't understand what this boy is talking about. Not even we can tell the truth, so it excuses the puzzled face He now has.

[CHE5TER]-...But I am not any kind of species you think I am. I am not! I am simply a C born!

[General]-Yes, I know! You are a C born and I do believe you! I-I am as well! But this is not about our races, CHE5TER! I am talking about a blessing!

[CHE5TER]-Wh... What even is an "Almost Hooman"!? Are you sure you are not making things up??

[General]-I am not! I-I am telling you! Please, just listen to me!!

[CHE5TER]-I can't believe these words even if I wanted! You are just saying random things trying to confuse me! If you are telling the truth, then prove it! Prove it to me!

[General]-I-I can't just... I-I...

Even so, the ruler is pretty sure that this boy only tries to trick Him, and it pretty much proves Him that this might be the truth since the stranger starts stuttering and moving around, trying to come up with other random things. Yet when it stops, it looks fixed into His eyes, maybe having an idea, and says a sentence that sure confuses CHE5TER more.

[General]-...Use your blessing.

[CHE5TER]-What?

[General]-I said use your blessing! You want proof!? I will give you proof! Don't fool me around with your tricks! Use it! Now!

[CHE5TER]-What are you even talking about?

[General]-I said do it!

So of course He doesn't know what the boy talks about at all, but He does as it said. In a blink of an eye, He begins to create a black mist around his left arm and shows it to the boy, but the boy sure was a bit pissed at His action.

[General]-...I am not talking about your race power. Don't take me as an idiot. Use your blessing, now!

[CHE5TER]-This is my blessing, you dipshit! This is my blessing from the gods! I am a Creator and nothing more!

[General]-*sigh* You are making my work even harder...

The boy then turns with its back towards the Great Leader, making sure that the mark on its neck is visible for Him, and yet again it confuses Him this action.

[CHE5TER]-What are you doing?

[General]-...If it is for me to gain your trust just to see your blessing, then I will give it a try. But you have already seen mine, so it shouldn't surprise you.

[CHE5TER]-What do you even--

[General]- --Look at my mark and I will give you proof that I am telling the truth.

And so He does. Even confused, He looks at the mark that the boy has on its back of the neck, trying maybe to understand what it wants to prove. Yet not long after, the mark lights up, only for a few seconds though, before it goes dark again. Though this action seems pretty random and without any kind of meaning since the mark did nothing, the rest of the body sure did.

From its initial position, the boy stood with the back towards the ruler as said, while the ruler was simply observing confused. Yet when the mark has stopped lighting up, as CHE5TER takes His view just for a second to see the area, He now can also notice the same strange mist which now travels around Him. And that's not all, as He can also notice something that wasn't there at all. In His left hand now stands a simple Novha coin which He did not remember to even take from His clothes.

So though it looks as the boy didn't move at all, the environment managed to change itself pretty quickly, without anybody even noticing. When the smoke-like mist evaporates, the boy turns around and waits for the man to respond.

[General]-...Now do you trust me enough to tell me my answer?

[CHE5TER]-H-How did you--

[General]- --This is my blessing, CHE5TER. My Inhumanity! This is what defines me as an Almost-Human. Now I want to see yours.

[CHE5TER]-I-I can't d... H-How am I suppose t...

And He sure has lost His words. But it confuses a bit the boy, as it watches Him stutter and doing weird movements, maybe trying to wake up from a dream He thinks He is in.

[General]-Can you show me your blessing, CHE5TER?

[CHE5TER]-I-I... I d-don't even know how to do that! If I am what you say I am, then how can I even learn to that!?

[General]-What are you talking about? This is my blessing, not yours. Mine has nothing to do with yours, so you can't just learn it just 'cause you want it.

[CHE5TER]-W-What?

[General]-My blessing is not to be given, as well as is yours. It is what defines me. This Inhumanity that I have it what defines me in the species of Almost-Humans. As an Almost-Human, I was blessed with an Inhumanity that lets me move faster than a simple being's eye can even see, but just for a few seconds. It is what I did in the past and what I did now. So why do you seem so surprised, even though we are the same species?

[CHE5TER]-...Because I don't know anything about another blessing!

And that response sure confused the boy even more. Not only CHE5TER has a lot of questions now, but also the stranger, who looks so puzzled at the ruler.

[General]-You... don't know what I'm talking about? At all?

[CHE5TER]-No! I don't know anything about what you're saying there!

[General]-So you weren't even aware of your own mark from the back? But why did you back off so quickly when I took a look at it?

[CHE5TER]-I was aware of it! I-I just didn't know what its meaning is!

[General]-And why did you back off then?

[CHE5TER]-I was raised with the idea of hiding it from anybody else since everyone will see me as different! Just because of a random mark I got with no meaning! Now I'm meeting a stranger who speaks nonsense about it all of a sudden and I don't know what to believe anymore!

[General]-Who even told you to hide it? What's the purpose of hiding it?

[CHE5TER]-My father told me, okay!?

[General]-...Your father?

CHE5TER sure couldn't handle all the new information, and being as shocked as He is, He began to panic a bit, not knowing what to do anymore.

[General]-...Wait, wait, wait. You tell me that your father told you to hide it? The same guy that gave you the map which led to the ore that you've stole from my people? Did he even tell you something about it?

[CHE5TER]-No! H-He just told me to hide it until I find on my own what's its purpose! He never told me anything about it! Whenever I questioned Him about it, He said that He didn't know the answer either! S-So I just hid it out of fear of people seeing me different, even an alien to their kind!

No matter the tries of understanding the situation, it only ends up with them being even more confused. To take a break though, CHE5TER simply sits down, takes a few breath, while the boy remains up and tries to find an answer.

[General]-...Something is not right here at all, CHE5TER. If he didn't know anything about the sign, then why would he put you to hide it? He couldn't just don't know anything at all, he probably knew something for sure. But from what it seems, he and all the other ancestors you told me about should really be related to my people.

[CHE5TER]-...Do you believe that my father knew you?

[General]-*sigh* Hard to tell for sure... I know a lot of people from my kind, but I don't know anything about a guy that went missing in the wilderness to say that he was probably your father, who also probably found this city and never came back.

[CHE5TER]-And you don't remember anybody by the name of LENKOV?

[General]-Not really... Especially a man with this name which had a son that continued the tradition. I... simply don't understand how...

Of course the answer disappoints CHE5TER, who seems as if He got rather in a trance now, helping His head stay up with His left hand. Noticing this too, the boy thinks of something quickly, before starting to speak again.

[General]-Alright... Let's leave that for later. Now, I see that our top quest is regarding your blessing.

[CHE5TER]-...My blessing?

[General]-Yes. You told me that you don't know your own blessing right? Your Inhumanity? Maybe if we manage to find out about it first, some ideas on this other problem might come up.

[CHE5TER]-And how are we even suppose to find out what blessing I have?

[General]-Well... you can try and tell me what you notice to make you different from the others. Did you find people being in a way and you in another?

[CHE5TER]-I don't think that's how it works...

[General]-I mean, it might be a solution. Like, literally anything might help.

[CHE5TER]-*sigh* I don't... really know if I have any difference from all the other people. I have different dreams and all, but I don't think that counts. And I know that some people seemed to despise my mindset as well, seeing me "different" than them. But that's how everyone is, right?

[General]-Well, I didn't mean your way of thinking, but you are right. I was rather referring to something that you can do but nobody else can. Or something that you did in the past as well.

[CHE5TER]-Something that I did...?

[General]-Yes! Like, I don't know... maybe you managed to fly, or maybe you managed to see through walls, or something like that. Anything that any other being couldn't.

[CHE5TER]-I... managed to get the highest score on an exam which nobody managed to do so? Also being younger?

[General]-Mm... That falls more into skill than blessing. Something else?

CHE5TER begins to think of every possible answer that might help, even though there isn't much to say. He is just like the others after all, nothing really puts Him in the light. But then, He remembers some words, spoken when He was a child.

[CHE5TER]-...I don't remember this one, so I might not be right. But I was told once that when I was born, I was the only newborn in the room crying. My father told me that years ago. But as I said, I don't remember anything from that moment.

[General]-Yes, that's right! This just proves my point even further! That defines you as an Almost-Human!

[CHE5TER]-How so...?

[General]-When an Almost-Human is born, in the first moments of life, you can find it crying even if nothing really happened. For a normal being, they do not cry, they do not do anything at all for a few months. They stand in a deep sleep all this time while their consciousness is being connected to their bodies, so that the body can start functioning. But for an Almost-Human, the body starts its function ever since the first minute of life, even if consciousness isn't properly connected. This is probably why you don't remember anything from that day at all!

[CHE5TER]-So you've cried when you were born as well?

[General]-From what I was told, yes. Pretty much. I was a moving newborn even if I was suppose to be in that months sleep. Probably the same as you.

[CHE5TER]-Then how did you find out that you were different? Did your people know what you were?

[General]-Well, not really... Even today, probably they don't know anything about this information. But I managed to meet someone that has explained to me everything I needed to know about what I am since He was talking with my master a lot. With His help I kind of managed to find out about my Inhumanity too. He is still in my village, so if you wish to ask Him these questions, we can try it once we find my home.

[CHE5TER]-And you really believe that I will find out my blessing this way?

[General]-I mean, I don't think we need His help with that. Maybe I can manage to do it own my own. But that requires trust from you, because I need to know more about yourself. Simple fun facts won't help me with anything at all.

[CHE5TER]-...

Of course He isn't so happy about telling things to a stranger which include personal information regarding His life, but knowing that it must be the key to His puzzles, there is no other way. Other than that, He is also a different being, if whatever the boy says is true. And the stranger being the only one He knows to be an "Almost-Human", He has no other choice but to trust it.

[CHE5TER]-...If I really tell you about myself, you swear on your own life that you will help me understand what I am?

[General]-I do. May the gods strike me down if I do not fulfil my promise.

With that, CHE5TER takes a deep breath and starts looking at His right arm. He has a moment of hesitation at first though, since it sure is a subject that pisses Him off, but a few seconds later, He begins to roll up His sleeves and take of the dark bandages carefully. It sure confuses the boy this action, so it begins to sit down on its knees, staring at the ruler. But as He gets closer and closer to revealing His arm fully...

[CHE5TER]-Do you think that...

...He begins to question the boy about a problem that He is aware of, maybe thinking that the boy will have the answer. And so, His black and corrupted arm is now revealed completely.

[CHE5TER]-...this... is my blessing?