Chapter Text
“The gods cannot love.”
It is common knowledge in the Beyonder world that the higher the sequence, the greater the loss of humanity.
A being without humanity cannot love.
Leonard knew this. Still, he naively lied to himself, believing he had a chance that his feelings would be reciprocated.
“What stupidity. Am I nothing more than a clown in your eyes, Kle-… Fool? All this time...”
Leonard came to a realization as he looked at the stiff posture of the puppet. Disparaging thoughts about himself filled his mind.
Klein was not the Fool. Klein was not The World.
Klein died in Tingen. What remained died with The World after betraying the Fool. The old man had reiterated this many times, but he did not want to listen. It was easy to assume that the main body had been asleep for a long time, ever since they managed to win the battle against the outer gods years ago.
“All this time you’ve only been one of his puppets. Did ‘he’ order you to do this?”
The puppet looked like Klein Moretti. From his days in Tingen, keeping the most human moments for both of them. He wondered how he should respond. He already knew the end he would face if he lied to Leonard. The main body was still asleep, and he couldn’t consult it.
In the end, he decided to be completely honest.
“The corruption of the outer gods in your soul has not been fully purified, ‘he’ feared that your chances of losing control would be maximized once he fell asleep. So, he ordered me to maintain an affectionate relationship with you to stabilize your emotions.”
The Servant of the Hidden had lost his usual joy. The atmosphere in the house quickly cooled, and the puppet felt the domain of darkness spreading. ‘He’ himself possessed the power of an angel, but he was not relieved. After all, he was not the first.
His reasoning led him to analyze a possible counterattack and put contingency measures into motion to prevent Leonard from losing control. He could understand why the Angel was upset. He could only blame the main body for not clarifying his intentions from the beginning.
“Out. Your job here is done.” The angel had used his domain of concealment to surround the entire house, and in broad daylight, the building began to blur. On the street, pedestrians seemed unaware.
“But…” Something in the puppet was reluctant. It didn’t want to leave. After all this time together… (DANGER) (DANGER) The puppet felt as if some of its strings were nearly cut. That thought was dangerous. The orders of the main body were absolute, and it couldn’t go against a direct command from Leonard.
It had to contact the main body urgently. It had to... What?
The puppet’s body froze for a moment, realizing that its thoughts had been stolen. In that instant, the domain of concealment had already erased the entire house. It could no longer locate Leonard on its own.
“Pallez.”
...
The house was beautiful. Adapted to the tastes of both inhabitants. Holding beautiful memories of a happy couple. A couple?
But now, darkness had filled every space. The angel felt embarrassed, humiliated, betrayed, sad, furious. A series of negative emotions that only worsened its state. And this house was full of memories that couldn’t give it the comfort it needed.
Leonard remembered this wasn’t the first time he had discovered this “secret.” He didn’t know how many times the Fool had suppressed and stolen his memories.
Did everyone know?
He thought so. After all, that way, the attitude of the other Tarot members toward them made more sense. How many times had his “friends” hidden his state from him?
Leonard didn’t hate them. But still, he wanted to know why. Why did everyone look at his state as if he were the clown in a show, begging for love from a being incapable of giving it?
If Kle- If the Fool is really that benevolent, why he just reciprocate his feelings? Is it because he’s concerned about the state of The Star? What value does the star have compared to the other members of the Tarot Club?
Only...
Only...
He felt like he wanted to disappear.
He didn’t want to face the world after this. Not like this. He didn’t want to see the Fool, nor the other members of the Tarot Club. ‘He’ just wanted to disappear.
It would be nice if he just disappeared.
After all, he had nothing.
The older members of the Church of the Eternal Night saw him as an outcast.
Many of his comrades had died in battle.
And now, he discovered that his only friend and lover... Never had a real lover.
And Klein had been dead for a long time.
“What… do I do?”
“Try not to die.”
Leonard felt Pallez’s efforts to prevent him from completely losing control. But, unfortunately, it was too late.
Leonard’s body had expanded, turning into a corrupted form of a mythical creature.
Pallez felt that the thin thread of sanity was fading, and Leonard’s corruption began to affect him.
“Old man... you knew too, didn’t you?”
“...”
A powerful force from the outside completely shattered the domain of darkness. The aura of the Sefira Castle purified the corruption, but there was nothing left.
Not a single trace of the Servant of the Hidden.