Chapter 109: He no longer exists [2/2]
This was similar to the summoning at the beginning of the night.
As I surrendered to the pull, my consciousness faltered and immediately faded.
***
The chirping of birds was the first thing I heard when I woke up. I felt a gentle warmth from the rays of the rising sun on my face. Worried about where the hell I was, I opened my eyes and checked my current situation.
I was lying on a bed in a small room. Various items such as video games, model kits, and posters decorated it. Most of them were to my taste.
"Why wasn't I in my shitty apartment?" I asked no one in particular.
It was just that I remembered. I had already canceled the lease on my old place. So where did I go back to?
Looking around, I belatedly realized why I liked all these objects.
"Wait, isn't this my room? In my old house?"
Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, I ended up waking up in my old bed in my father's house. Nostalgia came in buckets as I looked around the familiar room. The old posters of anime and video games I adored were still there.
I hadn't been back here since I left all those years ago. My resentment from the home I lost and my shitty dad made it hard. I often hung out at Earl's or Caroline's during holidays or when I had free time.
For some reason, my dad and I knew we should celebrate separately. Subconsciously, we knew that spending the holidays together would be a terrible decision.
After Earl's daughters became teenagers, it became harder to hang out with Earl's family. Their mother told me to avoid hanging out there unless Earl was present.
Being raised with traditional values, they didn't believe that unmarried men and women should mix in the same room.
I stuck to Caroline like glue after that, but after we broke up, I didn't have a place in Phoenix anymore, so I left. I absentmindedly looked through my old stuff.
Dad could have made some money renting out my room to someone else, but apparently he didn't.
Feeling bitter about his seemingly contradictory approach to raising me, I pulled out the note I got from the storage with Lily.
'John, I am sorry for having been a terrible father. I leave you this armory. It's not much, but I hope it will keep you safe and allow you to protect what you value most. Know that you are my pride. - Dad'
"..."
Somehow, knowing he didn't get rid of my stuff spoke volumes about my old man. Finishing my trip down memory lane, I left my room and surveyed the rest of the house, a house that technically belonged to me.
As if he knew he was going to die soon, the old man had somehow paid the full mortgage and taxes for several years in advance.
Lucky for me he did, otherwise I would have come back today when someone else owned it.
While having one was a luxury in this day and age, I had few fond memories of my family.
So it was like I was a stranger. Even though this was the place where I grew up.
I suddenly remembered Isolde's dilemma. To become a Specter, one had to give up one's memories. If I wanted to become a Revenant. One thing was for sure, one day I would come back here and remember nothing.
"..."
I didn't know why, but I felt bitter when I thought about losing my memories. It wasn't that I wanted to keep them, it was just that this was something you could not fight against.
When I left the old house, I was in a very bad mood. There were some enemies you could kill. A thief, a monster, or a demon, anything that bleeds can be killed.
Then there were those that made you powerless. Natural disasters, sickness, time.
No matter how powerful you became, you could not win against the laws of this world. That went against what I now knew. If even the people from the mythologies were reapers, couldn't I become as powerful as them?
Nature, death, time, even the laws of physics. A reaper's {Fate} had the power to overturn such things. Didn't {Rewind} or the girl's {fates} prove this to be true?
Momentum, space, gravity, light, cyberspace, sound, stamina, and finally time.
Our {Fates}, though formless, had incredible potential. While others might see them as trash, my combat records showed otherwise.
Granted, we could not manifest soul weapons, but I felt that the nature of the Formless was just misunderstood.
Maybe it was just my own arrogance, but somehow, I believed I was onto something. My {Kismet}, born from the union of our {Fates}, showed adaptability and incredible utility.
My {Reveal}, {Booster}, {Sheathe}, and {Draw} classes. Each one was complex in every sense of the word. I would feel insulted if someone thought my {Kismet} were garbage, they were like my children in a way.
As I walked the familiar streets, I made my way to get something to eat. After choosing the local diner, familiar faces who knew me were present. I didn't chat with any of them and concentrated on finding a seat.
Right now I needed a plan. Assassins were coming for me. My home base needed to be somewhere where I could take on any fight. I also needed to rework my {Kismet} classes and upgrade my equipment.
I robotically found a spot as my mind raced to come up with solutions. The main problem was money. Everything I needed to do on Earth required money.
"Wait! Didn't I make a lot of money?"
I tapped behind my ear to find my GRI missing.
"Right, I am not in combat. No wonder even Aira isn't here."
I pulled out my phone and eagerly checked my earnings.