Noel woke up with a ringing sensation in his head. Each time he blinked, he could feel a splitting pain as if his brain was torn apart.
"Tch! Where am I?"
There were several messages— a stack of them littering the space before him. However, he paid no mind to it.
The sight before him blurred. Several figures blended together in a haze with warm lights poking through.
Perhaps by instinct, Noel stretched out his right hand and grabbed something. He could feel a squishy and smooth texture in the palm of his hand.
His hands slid down, attempting to observe the nature of this object. At the same time, the ringing sensation in his head began to subside, sharply followed by a soft foreign voice.
He heard a moan.
Noel's sight became clear at once. Immediately, he glanced over to the right, taking a look at the object in his hand.
For a moment he froze, trying to comprehend…everything.
Noel swept his gaze around his scenery in a flash. The water vapour constantly rising up and clouding the atmosphere, the soft dim lighting, and the luxurious tiles firmly slapped onto the walls told one thing to him.
This was a bathroom.
Noel resettled his gaze on the thing resting on his palm. He was in a bathtub—a large round bathtub.
And he was holding….
Eh?
A woman, with shut eyes and a flushed expression sat next to him in the bathtub, wearing a towel that loosely wrapped her skin. Her shoulders were arched up and her fists were tightened, rubbing against her belly button.
She was sitting on his lap.
Noel blinked several times. Slowly, he retracted his hands without saying a word, stood up and walked out of the bathtub.
Only when he did that, did he notice that there was one more lady in the tub. She looked so identical to the other lady that you couldn't doubt that they were twins.
What the hell happened here?
His back rested against the wall as he scratched his hair, tilting his head from one side to another in an attempt to make sense of the situation.
His palm was still hugging his face when, through the gaps between his fingers, he shot a glance at the ladies.
Then he realised.
Wasn't I holding her…buns?
Noel was about to apologise when for whatever reason, he felt he didn't have to.
On second thought, there were several things off here. His hair—almost non-existent, clung to the sides of his forehead. And then walking forward, not minding that he was buck-naked, he asked the ladies a question.
"Who are you?" he enquired.
The ladies looked confused at first, then one suddenly smiled and shouted:
"I'm your servant, daddy!"
What the fuck!
Noel recoiled, backing away from the madness unfolding before him. From the look of things, he was somehow acquainted with these freaky folks.
He had to put his thoughts together first.
From what he remembered, he was about to get folded by some cosmic giant before someone saved him.
Someone? Who?
His memories were very hazy and several details were left obscure. Yet, it still felt like yesternight.
Noel slapped his forehead in frustration.
"Master, are you okay?"
Noel glanced at the source of the voice. "Master, huh?"
This is ridiculous!
It was then that he decided to look through the flood of messages poured out from the system.
However when he was about to, he caught a glimpse of himself in the foggy mirror opposite him.
Heck no!
He had to confirm his suspicions. Or rather, his fears.
Stricken with anxiety, he stretched out his hands to wipe off the water vapour that had fogged the mirror. However, the mere act of stretching out his hand, sent him stumbling backwards in horror as he sighted a foreign limb.
Noel took his time to observe himself. By appearance, he wasn't quite … Noel.
Hesitantly, he raised his head, retracing the mirror with his eyes.
Ah!
A middle aged man, probably 52 or so looked back at him. He had a constantly declining hairline with a few strands of hair trying to look special in a melancholic manner. His face resembled that of folded bread, as aside from his abnormally broad nose, his eyes were almost impossible to see.
The rest of his body however, was worse. He had chests that collapsed downwards as if it had its own gravitational force.
And his abs…
Abs?
What abs?
A pregnant man. Yes, that's what he resembled. His belly pushed forward uncontrollably, as if he had a full grown man in his womb. His limbs were unnaturally hairy, burying his skin under a black forest.
Noel felt like weeping.
But that wasn't the arrow to the chest.
For some reason, Noel decided to check the dragon between his thighs.
He saw a toothpick.
No please! Don't do this to me!
Tears really started streaming down the sides of his face.
Hell nah! Fuck no!
Gimme back my body!
The lady whom he had violated without apology, stood up and walked over.
"Master, why don't you join us, we can ease your worr—!"
"Shut your b*tch ass up!" Noel roared, glaring as if he was going to tear her down.
But his voice didn't quite satisfy his anger. Speaking so loudly made him realise that his throat was extremely raspy, as if fat had clogged up the area.
And since he sounded like a clown, he was treated like one.
The lady drew closer instead, pressing her frame against his shoulders.
"You wanted this, didn't you, Master?"
Wow…this is the worst.
Realising how he was humbled by himself, Noel took a deep breath and decided to reason more rationally.
"Excuse me for now please. Both of you," he said, increasing his understanding of the situation. She didn't bother him further either. At once, the twins left, removing the wet towels and switching to dry ones.
Firstly, he was in some stranger's body. Looking back at the mirror confirmed it, however bitter he felt.
He decided the System would answer his questions so he pulled out his tab, aiming to retrieve valuable information.
The messages seemed to be a recounting of recent moments.
[Time Lord has been activated]
[Your soul is too weak to retain this Authority]
[Your soul is being strained]
[Switching to Active Offloading mode]
[A fraction of your memories have been erased to lighten the strain]
[Your soul is still strained]
[A major fraction of your memories has been erased to lighten the strain]
[Your soul is still strained]
[Your soul has been fragmented and displaced]
[Special Authority is retained.]
"....."
There were more messages but he decided to stop there for the time being.
"I forgot something?" he mumbled. "What did I forget?"
As if he would remember.
He ran his hands over his hair—rather, his scalp and pondered. The slits which were his eyes gazed intently at the image before him.
Wasn't he pretty much losing himself?
Noel didn't know if he should be worried about it or not. His mind was bubbling with a lot of questions and he was more focused on finding answers.
It was a good thing that he didn't have his memories. If not, he might have feared that he now had to live as this person for the rest of his life.
That sounds like torture.
Noel sighed. The words 'erased' and 'fragmented' filled him with lingering unease. He didn't like the fact that he didn't know what he should.
Even the events that took place seemingly yesterday were fleeing to the corners of his mind, hiding from his knowledge.
Noel squeezed against his forehead. Time Lord. He remembered that clearly.
Yes, that must be the 'special authority'.
He was oddly certain.
Noel dragged himself off the ground and sat on a vanity stool. He then reopened his tab, causing a blue screen to reappear.
[Following the conditions of the special Authority, you have been given an assignment]
An assignment? From who?
[Mission: Complete all Seven Phases
Status: Ongoing
Milestone: Phase 1 [Active]
Milestone Reward: Unspecified
Mission Reward: Godhood]
Ain't no way! Godhood?!
He had a lot of questions. But the mere mention of godhood made him lose his mind. He was exhilarated.
But when he thought about it, he was brought to a chilling calm.
"What's special about godhood again?"
He realised he couldn't place his finger on what made him so happy. But he knew that for something to get his heart racing so quickly, it must have been special.
Perhaps a dream or a goal. Or a crazy wish.
Nevertheless, he had definitely forgotten.
"Tch!"
Noel slapped his forehead again. It sucked to know he had lost memory of something without knowing what it was.
Truly, ignorance is bliss at times.