"Wait, sentient, story, replaced, I don't understand any of this" Hal's head felt like it was spinning rapidly as he tried to put that sentence together which seemed to make Lord Ermond smile with glee "Don't worry I'll explain …. some of it" his voice was calm yet cautious and Hal had a feeling he was going to leave with more questions than answers.
Hal focused his mind on the being in front of him and steadied his voice to seem as respectful as possible "Then please go ahead" Lord Ermond leaned back, his dominating presence taking up the entire room "Do you understand what is actually going on or where you are and how you got here? And I don't mean my starlit manor I mean this entire world as a whole".
That statement finally gave Hal a chance to think about his situation, which he had been ignoring for a while, where he was or what was happening in general, including all that stuff with his counterpart and who could blame him for putting something that depressing at the back of his mind.
"If you really don't like what I said, then prove me wrong", those words ran through his head, refusing to clear out of his mind, but for now, he had to focus on this standpoint. The theory had already been flowing through his mind, and now he would show his views.
"It's all fake", the lord smiled as he brought up his hand and rested his head upon it, his entire posture increasing on his nonchalant appearance, prompting him to continue ", I think it's all an illusion. He did say I'm mad after all that, I'm not the original speaking of him, he might already have taken my place and stolen my entire life, funny, isn't it?"
There was silence for a while, his own words having an impact on him as he was not the one who actually spoke them. He leaned back in his seat, resting his head so that he faced the starry ceiling of the duke's office, before he heard the clapping of the duke's hands.
"Yes, you are completely right, although your information is a little incomplete, but yes, this is all an illusion, a story and a dream all conceived within this fragile mind". Hal lifted his head, turning to face the Lord, determined to find out as much as possible from this mysterious man.
"But how did all of this come about? How can this be an illusion? I know they are, but they feel so real" the lord smiled, his voice resounding throughout the entire room.
"Well, it's pretty simple, the original was a lover of stories, he loved them so much he began to dream of them, and from there he began to make his own unique stories, characters and places in fact, all you see around you was made by him, that is why we call him the creator"
Lord Ermond kept quiet for a brief moment, his eyes appearing more distant than usual "You must be wondering why I know all this well. It's because I am a sentient, a special character within the story who is aware of everything, who knows that this is all a dream made by somebody else, a simple illusion crafted by a mysterious being. It's a burden to carry it".
There was now a hint of sorrow in his voice as if the words gave him a heavy burden that he was forced to carry. His distant eyes turned to face Hal, who felt completely taken aback by the entire statement, the original, or the creator, as he called him, where was he and where could he find him if he went searching.
"Do you know any more about this creator, like where I could find or how to get him? I want to ask him a few questions he owes me as much". The lord shook his head, his distant eyes now facing his table as a calm voice filled the room once more.
"Actually, I know little to nothing about him. Most of the things I know are speculation, and the only reason I can even speculate is because of the words that flow into our heads as soon as we ascend to sentience. Would you like to hear them?" Hal was willing to take any information he could get his hands on, and with that as motivation, he gave a simple nod, which made the lord smile as his voice burst forth.
The boy was a lover of stories
And those stories birthed dreams
And those dreams had a world between them
A world between dreams
Each dream was unique and special
Each dream held a piece of the past
Each dream held someone special
A person the boy loved to admire
The person was then made aware
Of the dreams and the world between them
Sentients, they had become
And the will they now had to face
"That's all I have for you when it comes to the creator or even you, so I can't help with your request" Each word sprang more questions in his head, but before he could dwell on them any longer, he heard the lord clap his hands before saying in a calm voice.
"Now, back to the real reason you're here, all that before was just to help you not get confused while I speak, so that we can talk about you replacing me"
Confused, he was already confused by all the things this guy had said, and Hal could tell things were about to get even more confusing. To make matters worse, the Lord was not allowing him to even digest all the information that was being dumped on him.
"First, let's get it out of the way that I can't leave this place and for now, I can't explain it, so with that out of the way, I can proceed to say this. Like I already mentioned, this is a story, and since I'm stuck here, I can't be part of the story and am a vital character, so guess what would happen when a new character falls into a story missing a vital character?"
Hal pondered the question for a while, taking into account all he had just discovered "The new character would take the place of the original". And as soon as the statement left his mouth, his eyes widened.
"So that's why I was in that cave, it was you Tai was supposed to meet you in that cave, and that dragon thing, it was supposed to appear to you, everything that is and might happen to me was supposed to happen to you"
Ermond chuckled a bit, his voice reverberating through the room, "Well, not everything we are different people, so things will happen differently to us, but there is a problem with you taking my place, this story is destined to have a bad ending".
Hal lifted an eyebrow, a simple question coming to mind, "What do you mean?" The lord leaned back in his seat and held out his hand to allow a nebula spawn to flow into his hand "Well, prepare your mind to digest my next statement. Simply, you're in the story but not part of the story, while I'm part of the story but not in it"
Hal scratched his head for a while. He was in the inside of this story, but wasn't an original character of the story, it was like acting in a play while not being in the script, and that would make the lord the actor that is in the script but couldn't act in the play.
"I see you finally made sense of it. Good, now you see the problem, since you are not part of the story, it means you can not enjoy the privileges of the story to its characters, like the connection to the soul, something you do not possess".
"Soul, what would that be if you could please explain?" Hal spoke with as much reverence as he could muster, turning his head to face the lord directly, who let out a sigh as he turned the nebula spawn in his hand into a glowing sphere before answering his question.
"Let's say that Soul is the source of power in this world, it produces energy that the people here utilise, and you are going to need it if you're going to give this story a happy ending"
Hal touched his chin as different thoughts went through his head. This was a world with monsters and mystical creatures, so it would make sense that the people here would also possess some sort of ability that would help them combat the creatures of this world.
"So then how do I get one, a soul, I mean?" The lord seemed more than tired of his questions, but soon answered, "I am a sentient, meaning I'm not in the story, so it doesn't have that much influence on me, but I am also part of it, meaning like every character in that story, I have a soul which I can share with you using a contract only draw back for you is that you will be under my rules a slave to me the Lord of the Stars put it simply your freedom will belong to me"
Putting his freedom on the line didn't really look appeasing to him, but at this current moment, was it worth putting it on the line? "But then how do I stand to benefit from all of this? Why should I put my freedom on the line for them?".
"The real question you should ask is, how are you going to survive this story. Take it from me, the one who has experienced this before, the things you're about to go through are going to rip you piece by piece, all aiming to break you without any way of protecting yourself, you will surely die".
Experienced it before, how could he say this had he somehow experienced the story before or was this another perk of being a sentient, but also if he was telling the truth about being ripped to pieces, then maybe he didn't have a choice, nor a way of getting out of this story.
Hal gritted his teeth at the feeling of being trapped by the sentient's offer. His lips twitched as he finally brought himself to say, "Okay, I'll accept your contract" Lord Ermond chuckled a little as he lifted his hands and clapped them twice and almost instantly, Alastella appeared behind him, walking carefully to the sentient with a mysterious dagger in her hand.
Lord Ermond took the dagger and slit his wrist, letting his crimson blood drip onto the shiny blade before handing it back to Alastella. She bowed to receive it and then headed towards Hal. In the next moment, there was a sharp pain as she stabbed it into his chest.
Hal slammed his hands on the office table, his entire body shaking and convulsing. A deep pain spread throughout him; he caught a glimpse of the dagger as it melted inside his body before his vision went numb. The pain persisted, but he was unable to scream, desperately wishing for it all to end.
"With that, you will share my soul and be known as Hal Leonardo Fernis. I shall return you to the company so that your body can fully assimilate my power. Bye for now, we meet again if you stay alive long enough."
He heard Alastella's feminine hand touch his chair before violently pushing it back, but before, instead of feeling the toughness of the ground, he fell through it as if sinking into the ground. Time slowed, and so did his mind, and once more it went blank.