A little more than a week after she had departed, Vahn finally received news that Pram had returned from her journey to the 113th Floor. This was a trip that would ordinarily take several months, if not much longer, but, thanks to her association with the Jahad Army, combined with the fact she was acting at the behest of a Family Leader, Pram had been authorized to teleport between Floors using a Suspend Ship equipped with a Warp Engine.
With nothing better to do, Vahn decided to teleport directly to Pram’s ship, a craft reminiscent of an arrowhead. This startled the onboard crew quite a bit, but, having anticipated his arrival, Pram’s ears perked up as she ambled towards him with a seductive sway in her step. At the same time, her fluffy tail snaked behind her, tip swaying from side-to-side in a meandering motion that granted a natural grace to each of her movements.
Before she could follow through on her desire to embrace him, Vahn interrupted Pram’s efforts by plopping his hand down on her head and saying, “Sorry, but I have no intention of waiting around for a year. Since your father has already given his permission, please alert the people at the Nest to expedite their preparations. I have my own means to bypass the Frozen Waterfall’s protections.”
Hearing Vahn’s words, Pram’s dazed look promptly gave way for a more awkward expression as she replied, “That…might be a little difficult. My father has conferred his consent, yes, but that is quite a bit different than receiving permission to ignore protocol. If something were to go wrong-“
Without waiting for Pram to finish speaking, Vahn plainly stated, “It won’t. Even if someone tried to intervene and ultimately ended up destroying the Nest, it wouldn’t matter. So long as I am nearby when it happens, I can revert everything to a time before its destruction. It’s high time you people started treating my status as a God seriously…”
Though she wanted to say something in response, Pram got the impression Vahn wasn’t going to listen. The current him seemed completely different than the man she had parted with less than a week prior, so, without thinking, she found herself asked, “Did something happen…?” with a bit of worry in her tone.
Surprised by the woman’s unexpected sincerity, Vahn found himself at a momentary loss for words. Fortunately, from the perspective of others, this period was about the same amount of time it took for a nerve to fire. Only someone like Pram would have been able to perceive the pause, but, due to the peculiar state of her emotions, she suddenly seemed both more and less perceptive…
With a natural smile developing across his face, Vahn used both hands to fluff Pram’s inordinately thick hair as he replied, “Don’t worry. This is a change that will benefit everyone in the Tower. Now, convey my words to your father and the people presiding over the Nest. I will be heading there first thing tomorrow morning. Once I am finished there, I will accompany you through the Middle Tower. to meet with your father. My journey through the Inner Tower has come to an end.”
Though common sense dictated that it was impossible to traverse the Middle Tower without first clearing the associated trials of the Inner Tower, Pram didn’t question Vahn’s words. Instead, a not-so-subtle glaze covered her silvery eyes as she pushed her head against the palms of his hands and issued an affirmative ‘Nn…’. This left the predominately female crew at a loss for words, not because of their Elder’s quick acquiescence, but because they were slightly envious of her treatment…
—
With a few hours to kill whilst waiting for Lord Lo Po Bia’s response, Vahn returned to his suite to find Nio and Iifa still passed out, the latter with her exposed bottom still sticking out and her face buried in the blankets. This caused him with a marginal amount of guilt, but, almost immediately thereafter, the feeling passed as Iifa, seemingly in response to his presence, rolled onto her side and mewled, “Vahn…sama…” with a contented smile on her sleeping face.
Restraining a chuckle, Vahn walked over to the side of the bed and planted a gentle kiss atop Iifa’s head before transplanting her, her sister, and the entire bed into the Little Garden. Then, with a far more serious expression on his face, he turned towards empty air and said, “I know you’re watching. If you want to avoid seeing the entire Tower burn, you will appear before me…Headon…”
Though it wasn’t immediate, a toothy grin appeared out of thin air before space began to twist and distort into the form of a white, rabbit-like, humanoid. Then, like a magical girl transforming, purple light covered the figure’s body as a magical staff affixed with two highly compressed spheres of pure Shinsu burst forth from golden light. When the light faded, Headon, garbed in a purple outfit set with blue gemstones in the shape of a crucifix, appeared. Then, from within the thin black slit that served as both his mouth and eye socket, two vibrant cyan irises appeared as he said, “Even if you are an Axis User, I cannot-“
Raising his hand in a silencing gesture, Vahn earned a toothy smile from the enigmatic rabbit as he said, “I have no interest in your games. You are more than capable of authorizing people to ascend the Tower without the need to complete Tests. Others might not know of your little agreement with Phantaminum, but I am well aware of the truth. Tell me, Gluttony, have you enjoyed playing God…?”
Unable to restrain himself, the slit representing Headon’s mouth opened to reveal a toothy maw as a guttural-sounding laugh echoed through the surrounding space. At the same time, several other mouths began to appear across his body as he quickly transformed from an unassuming rabbit to a hound-like beast with pale white skin, bloody tendrils for hair, and a perpetually shifting number of crooked maws covering its entire body…
With his transformation finished, the maw at the center of Headon’s forehead spontaneously turned into an abyssal black void before a vibrant blue iris appeared, fixating on Vahn as the crooked maws covering his body chorused, “I knew it…you are no simple Axis User. Tell me. What is someone from ‘above’ doing in the Tower of Babel? What could have possibly compelled you to interfere in a story that had nothing to do with you?”
Smiling in response to the eldritch creature’s question, Vahn unhesitantly took a few steps forward, far closer than anyone sensible would stand, before answering, “The reason is simple. Because I can. Now, the real question is…are you going to cooperate, or do you intend to stand in my way? I’m not going to beat around the bush. If you refuse, I’ll have no choice but to seal you and your children. If you choose to cooperate, however, I will break the shackles binding you to this place and allow you to explore a far greater Realm. What say you?”
Though he wanted nothing more than to devour Vahn then and there, Gluttony, formerly known as Headon, couldn’t violate the laws governing the Tower. Vahn would need to be the first to attack, and, even then, he would be compelled to give the former a Test before earning the right to devour him. This was a law he had been unable to circumvent even after fourteen-billion-years of existence, so, in response to Vahn’s offer, the maws across his body appeared to smile as he asked, “What did you have in mind…?”
Understanding Gluttony’s desire for freedom better than most, even if their circumstances were distinctly different from each other, a relaxed smile spread across Vahn’s face as he listed out his terms. Simply put, he offered to use a Fate Severing Knife on Gluttony in order to free him from the contract that bound him to the Tower. Before that, however, he expected free passage through the Tower, and, most importantly, he wanted access to the ‘Core Room’ that existed beneath the Tower. In even simpler terms, he was asking Headon to surrender his authority in exchange for the chance to reincarnate into a Higher Realm with his memories and abilities intact.
Though he obviously wouldn’t take Vahn’s words at face value, Gluttony had observed that the man had never told a lie. There were times when he spoke in a roundabout manner or relied on double-speech to avoid a specific truth, but, more often than not, he was very straightforward. He had also exhibited an uncanny obsession with liberating others from circumstances beyond their control, so, rather than immediately assuming Vahn was trying to deceive him, Gluttony agreed to his terms on the grounds that the former would remain bound by a contract until the moment of his release.
Since there were no particular disadvantages to accepting Gluttony’s conditions, Vahn agreed on the condition that the voracious Guardian would not reveal information related to their agreement to any third parties. This wasn’t something he would have done under normal circumstances, but, as a result of the Workshop’s schemes, Gluttony wasn’t the only Sin within the Tower. They had come to the conclusion that the only thing capable of defeating a Sin was another of the same, so, in the hopes of usurping Gluttony’s authority, Jahad and several of the Great Warriors had been made into unwitting guinea pigs during the process of ‘Revolution’.
Fortunately, though Vahn couldn’t agree with the methods he had employed since then, Jahad had realized the truth before the Workshop could realize their penultimate objective. Since then, he had been a persistent thorn in the Workshop’s side, not by directly opposing them, but by coordinating with Headon to inhibit their progress. This was accomplished by working within the existing system rather than destroying it, an outcome even Macseth hadn’t considered since the Sin plaguing Jahad was none other than the Sin of Pride. They had expected him to sacrifice everything in his desire to reach the absolute pinnacle, yet, against every expectation, Jahad had privately accepted a position beneath the current Administrator while publically proclaiming himself King…
Simply put, Jahad’s ‘pride’ ended up coming back to bite the Workshop, as, the moment he realized the truth, he refused to allow himself to be used. Instead, he established himself as King in order to buy himself time to implement a convoluted scheme designed to circumvent the fate that had been assigned to him. This set him on a path to eliminate both Gluttony and the Workshop, but, as could be expected, neither was willing to just roll over and accept death. They each had their own cards to play, and, were it not for the unexpected appearance of Phantaminum, Gluttony would have had an absolute advantage against the other two.
As an Axis User, Phantaminum had absolute power over a specific ‘story’. By entering the Tower, he had effectively thrown a wrench into the plans of all three parties. To further complicate matters, he had made secret agreements with all three, drastically altering the course of fate with nothing but a few choice words and a fair amount of slaughter. This resulted in Baam becoming a lynchpin in the schemes of all three. More specifically, he was chosen by Jahad to destroy the Workshop and defeat Gluttony, chosen by Gluttony as a substitute, and chosen by the Workshop to slay Jahad.
Phantaminum had effectively manipulated fate so that Baam would, without outside interference, accomplish all three feats. This meant, from an objective perspective, Phantaminum was keeping his promise with Jahad, Gluttony, and Macseth. In reality, all three would end up becoming just another piece of Baam, destroyed by their own machinations. This would allow Baam to become the ruler of the entire Tower, and, as a result, the way forward would be open for those seeking to challenge the Tower and have their wishes granted. In layman’s terms, Phantaminum had realized the flaws of the Tower and used the last vestiges of their power to ensure things would be ‘reset’ to normal before moving on to enjoy a relatively simple life in a higher realm…
(A/N: Alternate Titles: ‘*Pets into compliance*’,’S*** got real, real quick…’,’Phanny is both a troll and a bro…’)
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