That is when my eyes fall on the devil mask that Abgere is always wearing. It is kind of revolting for me personally. I mean, it reminds me of Abyss, even though he is actually far from the devil.

I hate what happened to him. I hate the reputation of the lord of evil that he got. I hate Ozyllus for everything that he did. If this mask should remind me of anyone, it should be Ozyllus. He is the real devil, isn't he?

And yet,

Ethan: "Even Abyss wasn't as great a person as you think he was."

This man says so with a straight face.

Kais: "…?"

Ethan: "I can tell you were thinking about that guy."

This man owes a lot of Abyss too, doesn't he? I don't know how indebted he feels towards him but he definitely would hold a good opinion of him. On the other hand, I know for a fact that he hates Ozyllus just as much as I do. So, how come he says something like that like it's a fact?

Despite feeling annoyed by his words though, I can't bring myself to refute him. Maybe that is because, deep down, I realize they are true.

Kais: "What do you think would have really happened all those years ago that allowed Ozyllus to deceive people like that?"

Just how can one pull of such a great deception and not be caught for 1000 years?

Ethan: "Quite regrettably, I have to say that I have no idea."

He does actually look seriously dismayed by the fact that he does not know.

At the end of the day, these expressions are what ensure me that this man bathing in the sea of unpredictability is really on our side.

Sona: "That seems like an interesting conversation."

Sona walks towards us out of, what she has labeled as, her room. Ethan smirks and asks,

Ethan: "So, despite how big my house is, it doesn't have enough rooms for you all to stay in separately. That being the case,"

Yeah, I think me and Sona both know what he is going to ask next.

Ethan: "You two wanna share a room?"

Hah!

Kais: "As tempting as that sounds, we have other things to do."

Ethan: "I actually don't really think we have anything to do at night."

He is really pressing our b.u.t.tons even knowing that Sona loses it faster than some people do. Well, if nothing else, I have to praise his bravery.

Ethan: "Hah! But anyway, back to the topic,"

Seeing Sona staring at him with a little red glint in her eyes, he quickly changes the subject. Well, if nothing else, I have to praise his instincts.

Ethan: "We were talking about what might have really happened all those years ago, I think."

Yes, that's what we were talking about.

Sona: "Although I don't have any real clue either, I have been curious about one thing."

The glint in her eyes disappears as the conversation comes back to the topic and Sona starts speaking in a moderately serious tone.

Sona: "In the war that happened back then, many died, right? How could anyone believe that all of it was Abyss' fault? How could WE believe that?"

Thinking back on it, it seems pretty foolish that we believed in such lies. It's as if there was a force compelling us to not look at the ugly, dark and somewhat obvious truths of the past – and we were complying.

Ethan: "I was an 8-year-old sh.e.l.l of a boy with little-to-no knowledge about the 'legends' of the past when I found out the truth of everything. That is why, I can't relate to having ever really believed in all those stories."

Despite having the chance, Ethan is mocking us in any way. That alone is a testament to how much importance he gives to this topic.

Ethan: "To me, they were always stupid legends filled with hypocrisies and lies that I didn't understand why the supernaturals believed in."

True. He wasn't an idiot like the rest of us. But, if we are on the subject,

Kais: "Actually, there was once a time that Barry told me that everything in the legends is a matter of interpretation. He told me that if I interpreted the legends in some other way than most people do, I might find some things the world would not let me believe."

It is one of the many things that hold far too much meaning now but when it was told to that 6-7 year old kid, it didn't have any meaning at all. It was only boring gibberish of an adult.

Sona: "He said that to you too?"

Oh, so he told her as well.

Sona: "Back when he told me that, I didn't care enough to try to understand it. And soon, the whole incident of my village happened. After that point, I became too obsessed with revenge to stop and think about anything like that."

I see.

It makes sense since she would have had even less time to clearly think about it.

We only knew each other for 6 months before the incidents 12 years ago happened. Everything Barry told her, he did so within those 6 months while I had been hearing his lectures since much before.

Thinking back on it, weren't the incidents that affected us so much for our entire lives all really on the same day. Barry ma.s.sacring those people, Sneha losing her peers and teachers of the temple she was a part of in that ma.s.sacre, Ethan being made a witness to it and given the Eyes of Truth and Sona's village being slaughtered and her being taken to 'talk' to Ozyllus. And now that I think about that, it's also obvious how the incident with Barry directly connected us all except Sona.

That is probably why Ethan's research on us exceeded his research on her and she became an unpredictability for him back on the island.

Ethan: "Wait!"

Suddenly, his expression grows grim as he says while contemplating,

Ethan: "Tell me what he said again to both of you, in his exact words."

Seeing his expression, neither of us plays around as we start hoping for him to figure something out. Therefore, Sona starts.

Sona: "'The legends might not be as true as they look. Who knows what lies between the lines that carve up the history? Therefore, they could be a subject of interpretation. If you interpreted them in a way others don't, you might find truths the world won't let you believe.'"

Kais: "Yes, that's exactly what he told me too."

Ethan: "Hmm … 'the world won't let you believe', he said?"

I and Sona nod.

Ethan: "That's odd."

Ethan being confused – something that happens very rarely is happening now.

Kais: "How?"

Ethan: "In many old legends, the world is considered eternal and truthful. However, it is considered to still die many times."

I think I know what those legends he is talking about say. It's something about how the world will always exist but the various things that represent life on it will not. For instance, when dinosaurs died, one could a world died with them. But then, it was reborn by the birth of other species that again populated the whole planet. If humans die and some other species then evolves on the planet and starts following new steps of evolution, it can be called another death and rebirth of the world.

Ethan: "And you know who is famous for deaths and rebirths in the legends?"

Well, yes, I see where he is going with it.

Sona: "The legendary bird, Phoenix."

And Phoenix is the t.i.tle given to the leader of Vermillion, currently Reid Vezalius Rosevelt.

We also know for a fact that Vermillion has been around since Ozyllus and Abyss' days as well as that they have a lot of secrets that they are trying to hide from everyone, including us.

Ethan: "Do you think I am jumping the gun here? Because I think I am going to interrogate Rosevelt for hours if possible."

Sona: "No, I think it makes perfect sense to think that way."

Of course it could be a coincidence but I don't think it is. I also think Ethan's line of thinking is leading us to the correct person to ask.

Ethan: "I had some intentions before but now they are tripled to certainty – we need to get to Rosevelt and make him talk. If anyone in the world knows anything about the Psychic Library or the past that we are unaware of yet, he is the one."

I nod. Sona nods. And then,

Sneha: "The atmosphere sure seems tense."

Sneha walks in the room – the living room – where we are having this conversation and says before anyone tells her what we are even discussing,

Sneha: "Abgere thinks he knows of a way that can help us find the Library."

Taking all of us by surprise, Sneha continues in a somewhat curious tone,

Sneha: "From his expressions, he doesn't seem to be talking bulls.h.i.+t either. You might wanna hear him out."

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