Well, that was a conversational hard left. I opened my mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Nothing.
The answer? The guy standing right behind me had stabbed it. Period. End of story. And it wasn't some distortion, reality-bending situation, either.
Andrea had no idea I was a Watched One. How could he, really? Even if he suspected that Fabio had some hidden backstory, the last thing he'd expect was me walking through his door with freshly minted divine power.
Pandomonium held the paper crane upside down, letting it dangle in the air as he kept talking.
“Don’t believe a word out of this guy’s mouth. He’s just trash-talking me to save his own skin. That’s his whole thing, always assumes whoever's winning must be on his side. Petty and no pride whatsoever.”
Did the Helper really become my Servant? No, that didn’t feel right.
With Pandomonium or Callister, I could sense a genuine connection. But with Trembly? Nothing. All I had was the faint trail of spit clinging to its paper body, letting me track where it was. That was it.
Looking at the scene playing out in front of me, I had to admit it was completely ridiculous.
The paper crane in my hand was going absolutely nuts—thrashing around like some kind of pissed-off breakdancer, its shabby wings shaking with what I could only describe as pure, concentrated rage.
“Fabio, don’t!”
A tiny hand shot out, snatching the purple poppy from my fingers and hurling it against the stone floor.
“You can’t just eat strange things you find on the ground!” Callister’s small face scrunched tight with worry. “You’re a god, Fabio, but a young one! You have to be careful! What if you get sick?”
Callister was so frustrated he burst into tears, his tiny body shaking with sobs. He looked so much like a five-year-old throwing a tantrum that I had to wonder, does the mind regress along with the body?
So, this was it. My last chance. If Pandomonium ignored even this desperate gambit...well, my next stop was Mother God’s horrifying afterlife.
You’d think I’d be panicking, but a strange sort of calm had settled over me. Death, damnation... whatever. At this point, it was out of my hands.
I was too drained to even keep my eyes open. I felt him take my hand, pressing it against his tear-soaked cheek as he nodded frantically.
The first thing I saw was a system window.
What the hell?
That shouldn’t be possible, but there it was, hovering in my vision. Something was off, though. I should’ve been screaming my head off, but there was no pain. Just a sharp, metallic tang flooding my mouth, like a handful of copper pennies melting on my tongue.
Pandomonium’s expression shifted, the placid calm draining away to reveal cold irritation beneath. My hands shot up to my throat, clawing at nothing while something invisible squeezed my neck.
A lump of anxiety rose in my throat.
Is this all your doing, House Lizard? Did you manipulate Reyes too?
House Lizard shook his head.
“No,” he said, his voice disturbingly calm. “I bear you no ill will. There’s no reason to be afraid. I exist solely to assist you.”
Pandomonium acted like I hadn’t said a word. Without a glance back, he turned and strode straight toward the Main Building.
I lunged after him, grabbing his arm with both hands. “Wait! Hold on—stop!”
My feet scraped uselessly against the ground as he kept walking, dragging me along like I weighed nothing. Trying to stop him was like trying to anchor a moving car—five solid meters of pure, undignified resistance.