Amadeus was stunned into silence, head blank as his heart skipped a beat.
"I'm what?" He said with a weak voice.
He? An incarnation of a Constellation?
Constellations, also called Gods in some stories, weren't that uncommon in novels, his own novel had them.
But this person is saying that he, the guy who took eighteen years to become an Awakened was the incarnation of a god?
What the hell!?
"I know what you're thinking" The person- no Fantasia said "Yes, you're the incarnation of a god, the God of creation and creativity itself might I add, but don't put the cart before the horses, you're not that powerful, Deus Machina wouldn't allow me to incarnate if it was that easy"
Wait, the Deus Machina is involved in this too!?
Deus Machina, also known as the System, was a being that organized Awakened affairs, like trades and levels.
But now it is involved in this?
"Mach don't like the trouble that the presence of a Constellation do to the ecosystem of a mortal planet" Fantasia explained "It also hate how unruly we can be sometimes, like a person getting mad a their baby sibling messing with the ant colony they took so long to raise"
Although not an analogy Amadeus would say he was comfortable with, it was far from wrong, so he focused on the explanation.
"Me and Mach, after much trial and error and many, many terrible decisions, finally came to an agreement and a plan, I get to go to the mortal world, and it gets its entertainment it wants so badly, but I can't go with my divinity, and my memories and powers have to be sealed, only being able to access them as I level up, or I might disturb the balance of the world I'm currently in"
Well, a not so strange plan, but he was still confused as to why would such a being go through all that trouble (Heavens, that was he, he chose to go through all that trouble, why?).
"Now I'm sure you must be wondering why would I do all this?" Fantasia said.
Amadeus unconsciously nodded at the question.
"The answer is simple" They said "Inspiration"
There was a beat of silence, and Amadeus' mind became numb.
"Stagnation can't bring creation" Fantasia said "And creation can't start without inspiration, so I descend to mortal world to gather inspiration by living among mortals and learning what their lives are"
Amadeus didn't say a word as the information started to sink, Fantasia themself paused for a moment, smile disappearing, revealing a sober expression.
"I don't know what you passed through" They said "You are the me of the future, the one who'll get to live in the mortal world as a mortal, the me you see right now is the one who is yet to be born in planet, but I have enough memories to say that most worlds are not welcoming, far from that, some do as much as to kill a baby on the crib without hesitation"
His eyes met with Fantasia's.
"But I ask for a favor" They said "A selfish favor to you, my Persona, who's name, appearance, species, gender and pain I know nothing, a favor from this generation of Fantasia, the Constellation who's whole clan is composed of itself, it's different faces, consciences and creations"
They smiled at Amadeus, a gentle and sober smile.
"Would you become Fantasia? I'm not really fond of what I've became, and I fear what will come out of me to the world if I were to become the main conscience"
Amadeus didn't have words to explain what he felt right now.
No, he had the words, he just didn't know how to use them.
"You don't need to answer" Fantasia said "You don't need to think about gathering inspiration, you don't even need to fulfill this stupid favor if you don't want too, just live, live a life you see fit for yourself and smile, for now you have the power to do so"
Fantasia then disappeared with a simple goodbye and informing that there were a few things he might like to read at the start of the Book of Stories.
But Amadeus didn't move, he just stared at the book, vision getting blurry.
"Hey kid" Matthew called "You good?"
Honestly? He wasn't.
His existence was centered on the action of gathering inspiration to be used later, and this Constellation just told him that he didn't need to.
The Constellation told him to live and smile.
No one told him this before.
He was the trash.
The waste.
Useless in every way.
But not anymore.
Now he was not just Amadeus Hudson.
He was Fantasia.
He hurriedly dried his tears, hands moving back to the Book of Stories.
"'m good, let's see what they wanted me to find in the book"