"Greetings, Miss Reinette. This is, in a sense, our first meeting." Alaric said with a smile, offering a polite greeting.
"Hello…" "strange…" "Mr.…" "Lucifer."
Reinette Tinekerr's four heads spoke in turn, returning the greeting while openly sizing up Alaric.
Reinette couldn't discern where this man had come from or what bizarre ability he'd just used. Her observations suggested he was an unremarkable mortal, but that was impossible... only a fool would believe someone capable of this was ordinary.
The only explanation was that he was concealing his nature, and she couldn't see through it.
Realizing, belatedly, how extraordinary the Shadow of Time had been, Reinette gave Alaric a meaningful look before speaking again: "Why…" "do you…" "think I'd…" "want to save the Chained God?"
"I'm not certain of your intentions, Miss Reinette Tinekerr, but regardless of your bond with the Chained God, I doubt you'd want a foreign pathway's Uniqueness to remain in the Mother Tree of Desire's grasp. Without reclaiming the Chained God, you'll forever be just an angel." Alaric said unhurriedly, his smile unwavering.
He wasn't naive enough to think Reinette's attachment to the Chained God was so strong she'd risk everything to save Them, but for her own advancement, she couldn't ignore Their situation.
"You…" "don't care…" "if the Chained…" "God lives."
Reinette didn't refute him, merely observing before speaking with certainty.
"I don't force a specific outcome. If the Chained God is successfully saved, that's ideal. But if They fall, retrieving Their characteristics and Uniqueness would still be a fine ending, wouldn't it?" Alaric replied, smiling without denial.
"Why…" "are you…" "doing…" "this?"
Reinette asked again.
"Perhaps because I, too, am an enemy of the Outer Deities?" Alaric said, his tone uncertain, followed by a smile. "Or you could say I simply want to give the Chained God the ending They deserve. An angel who practiced temperance for centuries shouldn't be reduced to a toy of indulgence. That's too cruel for an actor."
Reinette seemed to ponder this. After a moment, she spoke: "What…" "do you…" "plan to…" "do?"
"And what…" "can I…" "do to…" "help?"
"First, I'll need some of your blood or something closely tied to you. If you have anything strongly connected to the Chained God, that would be even better." Alaric said, smiling.
For the Mother Tree of Desire, today was another calm day.
Lazily lounging on the moon, It casually observed Earth through the barrier, counting the days until it would dissipate while smirking at Its rival, the Mother Goddess of Depravity, next door.
As an old adversary, the Mother Tree of Desire knew well that the Mother Goddess of Depravity had let out a scream days ago for unknown reasons. After investigating, It discovered that Mr. Door, under the Mother Goddess of Depravity's control, showed signs of breaking free... not fully, but enough to hint at trouble.
The Mother Tree of Desire couldn't help but mock Its competitor inwardly while nonchalantly checking on the Chained God.
The Chained God had long been Its puppet, a relay station for the Mother Tree of Desire's invasion of Earth. Without Them, It couldn't have established so many secret organizations worshiping It... a highly useful tool.
With this in mind, the Mother Tree of Desire casually "logged into" The Chained God's persona to handle Earthly affairs. Just then, It noticed a devotee establishing a direct connection with the Chained God.
Unconcerned, the Mother Tree of Desire prepared to lightly pollute the devotee through the link but froze.
"AAAAAHHH... "
A scream, eerily similar to the Mother Goddess of Depravity's, erupted from the Mother Tree of Desire. Panicked, It severed the connection, reeling from an unprecedented pollution. After recovering, It realized a significant issue.
The Chained God had slipped slightly from Its control. If Its dominance was once 100%, it was now perhaps 95%.
This small shift didn't prevent the Mother Tree of Desire from controlling the Chained God, but it meant Their long-dormant consciousness had regained a sliver of clarity.
What was that?
The Mother Tree of Desire sank into thought.
"Tch, as expected, while Nyarlathotep's power can indeed harm Outer Deities, the portion I can channel now can only give Them a jolt... not enough to strike at Their core." Alaric muttered, assessing the experiment's results. "I'll only be able to truly challenge or kill Them once I fully master the Nyarlathotep fragment's power."
It couldn't be helped. Alaric couldn't yet fully control the fragment, only guide a fraction of its power, much like Klein using a sliver of the Sefirah Castle's power to create "paper angel substitutes" before becoming its master. This level was sufficient to cleanse pollution from Mr. Door and others, with some risk of mental damage, but directly confronting an Outer Deity was a pipe dream.
Fortunately, Alaric hadn't expected to achieve that. A jolt was satisfying enough.
With that, he glanced at Tolzna beside him... not the true body, but a Shadow of Time summoned via a medium.
Moments ago, Alaric had summoned Tolzna's Shadow of Time and had a "friendly" chat, mostly showing Them how wretched Their current state was in this era.
As expected, upon confirming Their situation, Tolzna's face metaphorically turned green. They immediately pleaded: Help! Friendly forces, save me!
Alaric gladly obliged, following the same process used with Mr. Door. He established a connection with the current-era Tolzna, then used a counter-pollution strategy... fighting poison with poison... while observing the Mother Tree of Desire through Tolzna's link.
Thus, the earlier scene unfolded.
***
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