However, Cale was not expecting the reason for their strange behaviour to be something so out of the realm of rationality. It filled his heart with cold dread and fear to hear Raon’s quiet cries at night when Cale woke him from nightmares which were no longer about being tortured by Venion Stan but were now about being killed by Choi Han.
Even Basen, one morning, called him through the communication device asking if they could meet. When Cale arrived at the Duke’s estate, he was greeted by every member of the Henituse family, desperately embracing him. Basen and Lily openly crying as they cling to him. His heart clenched with a deeper sense of anxiety and apprehension.
So, he summoned Cage to the Villa and was almost horrified by the sight of her when she arrived with Taylor. Cage looked devastated. Her eyes were swollen, and it looked like she’d bitten her lips enough times for them to bleed. She looked tormented and almost feral, clinging to Taylor with both her arms and leaving bloody traces behind on his clothes from where her nails had dug into the skin of her palms.
“What did the God of Death say?” Cale asked immediately, and Cage’s wild gaze instantly became focused as it landed upon him. Her lips parted, and a broken whimper escaped her mouth moments before she croaked out his name.
“Y-young Master C-Cale…”
For the first time since Taylor couldn’t even recall when, Cage let go of him completely and rushed toward Cale, she surprised everyone, falling onto him, weeping loudly and wailing a mantra of gratitude toward him.
Cale gulped, but let out a deep breath and gently embraced her, lightly petting her hair with one hand while patting the trembling Marquis Taylor Stan with the other – Taylor too had tears gathering, his eyes shook, but he seemed more concerned for his best friend than for himself. Cale comforted them both, just like he’d done for the others when they all began confessing to him that they were being plagued by memories of things that never happened to them. Once Cage had calmed down, he released her and watched Taylor gently help her back into their seat.
“The…” Cage’s voice shook, trembling and cracking. She bit her lower lip and tried to compose herself, clasping her hands tightly together. She tried to speak again, now everyone was paying attention and anxiously waiting for her to do so.
“He said… Grigori would summon us.”
“Grig-Grigori? What’s that?” Hannah frowned from her seat beside Mary. Jack beside Hannah had been silent this whole time, occasionally he’d tremble with anxiety and abruptly reach out to clasp Hannah’s hand into his own – they’d retreated to the Villa about a week ago – Jack had confessed to Cale that he had violent nightmares where he watched Hannah die from the Dead Mana and he’d died soon after her. He’d been so shaken by the vivid nightmares that he and Hannah had come seeking sanctuary at the only place they knew they would be safe – and Cale had welcomed them back with open arms.
Cale frowned deeply and then blinked when the God of Death’s Divine Artifact began to glow with a black aura.
“Hmm? Why is it doing that?” Bud asked in a quiet voice – he’d stopped drinking so often these days, too. He was also deeply scared by the traumatic scenes that flashed before his eyes every time he looked directly at Glenn’s face.
Cale reached out and set his hand upon the book, allowing the book to open and the pages to rapidly flip through all by itself. The others gathered closer. They were anxious that something might happen to Cale, that the God might try to take him away from them, and that scared them more than their haunted memories. However, the book went still eventually, and Cale’s eyes widened as black unfamiliar words appeared upon it’s pages.
Reading the words that apparently only he could see, he spoke up addressing his family and loved ones.
“According to the God of Death, the Grigori is the Goddess who is known as the ‘Witness of All Life’. Apparently, her name ‘Grigori’ literally translates to mean the ’Watcher’. She is also the Overlord of Time. The God of Death says here that he and the other Gods all went and begged for her help. Apparently, we will be summoned to her divine realm if we consent to her help.”
“What will happen here? If we get sent to a different realm?” Alberu asked anxiously.
The pages of the divine artifact turned again, and Cale’s eyes widened before he looked at Alberu and the others to answer their main concern.
“He says Time will stand still. The Goddess will stop time in our world while we are in her realm, and she will allow it to resume when we return.”
“Is that really possible? I thought Gods couldn’t interfere so much in matters concerning the world.” Choi Han questions quietly.
Cale turns his head back to the book and found new lines written across the page.
“All the gods who oversee our world came together to ask for her to help us. Since she is Time itself, she is the sole entity who is exempt from the laws of order and causality. If we accept her help, she will explain what we’ve been experiencing and also heal everyone.”
Everyone notices that Cale is kind enough to include himself in the way he speaks now – it’s proof that their collective hard work to make him understand that they love and care about him has paid off. However, rather than celebrating their success, there is a more pressing concern that requires their undivided attention.
“What’s the catch?” Eruhaben questions. He knows there will always be some kind of catch. This offer sounds almost too good to be true.
“Akashic Records… Since she is the ‘Watcher’ apparently, we will have to watch and react to the records of our world, our past, present, and future.”
“That doesn’t sound dangerous…” Sherritt responds cautiously.
“True… in fact, that sounds fairly reasonable.”
“Yes—hmmm?” Cale’s reply is cut short when the pages of the book suddenly turn rapidly to another blank page, and words appear upon it again.
He frowns slightly and then lets out a soft sigh.
“He says that because she is an Ancient God, she is considered a Supreme Being and therefore does not interfere with worlds. She only observes, that’s why she has no temples or followers. She’s making an exception this time because all the gods asked her to save us.”
Cage and Jack felt the sensation of their respective gods patting their heads – as if encouraging and comforting them to accept the offer. Cale’s gaze returned to the pages when new lines filled it, and he continued.
“She will only bring us to her realm and help us if we accept her offer. Apparently, she will respect our choice even if we choose to decline her offer.”
“What a unique god!” Dodori mumbled. Mila reached out to clutch her son and pull him closer to herself as her own fearful memories of a past she doesn’t recall gnaw at her, amplifying the fear that the god would be angered by Dodori’s innocent comment.
However, in response to the pages rapidly turning, Cale looks up, and his calm and steady gaze sweeps over everyone.
“He asks that we accept the offer. Apparently, this is a very serious matter that can only be solved by this divine intervention. What do you think everyone? Shall we go?” Cale asks and allows each member of his family to consider it and then give their nod of response. Once they were all in agreement, Cale looked at the book and spoke directly to it.
“We’ll accept the offer. When will the Goddess summon us?”
However, rather than responding, the divine power of the god of death disappeared, and the book fell unresponsively into Cale’s hands again.