7 The Umbral Sphere (2)

Alexi would have to be the world's greatest liar if he said he wasn't scared.

The room was dark. So dark, he literally couldn't see beyond the table before him. And that was thanks to the glowing orb that sat dead centre on the table.

He held himself from rubbing his shoulder. Lest his weakness to the terrifyingly low temperature be known.

He looked at the crystalline orb, but there wasn't much he could tell about it. He figured it was a magic orb. Probably one used for spying on people or other magic crystal orb gimmicks.

"You called?"

A sickly, frail voice asked, followed by a pair of wrinkly, shrivelled-up hands. These hands had overgrown, sharp nails. They hovered above the orb, manipulating the white light and turning it blue.

Alexi folded his arms. A condescending scoff escaped his lips as he placed both legs on the table, shaking it up.

"If you think a pathetic illusion like this is going to work, you better think again."

Alexi Simmons was a character made after Alexi's own heart. In more ways than one, Alexi considered this character to be his prized child. But anyone that knew Alexi on a personal note, would know Alexi Simmons was just a glorified self-insert on Alexi's part.

The darkness was then sucked up by the crystal orb. A room filled with absolutely nothing but portraits of devils and men surrounded the room. At the corner of the room, there was a statue of a great horned bird-like beast, staring at Alexi with eyes made of ruby.

Sitting underneath this statue, was a young boy. With an appearance resembling that of an eleven-year-old's and a cheeky grin, Alexi couldn't help but be impressed underneath his mask. The boy placed his legs on the table, replicating Alexi's sitting posture.

"So, you could see through my illusion, huh? You're definitely no ordinary Arbiter."

"I at the very least need to be able to see through such a low-level illusion if I were to be meeting the Alexi Simmons."

Alexi nodded.

There was no way in a million lifetimes that he'd be able to see past that illusion. Not even the most skilled illusionist in the world held a candle to this character. Even this current form was just another illusion. Fortunately, as the author, Alexi was privy to information that absolutely no one else was.

"Ok, then Arbiter. What do you want? Lottery results, bank details, information on government officials, a reading into the future or maybe long forgotten information?"

The orb flashed in different colours, projecting each piece of information he was willing to offer.

Alexi dropped his legs from the table then approached the boy. With a grin, he made his demand.

"Form a contract with me."

The boy's brow furrowed. The first sign of surprise he'd shown in years.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me right, Alexi Simmons.", Alexi reached out his hand to the boy. "Form a contract with me."

"You seem to be confused.", The boy, with a wave of his hand, pushed Alexi back into his seat effortlessly. "This is an information guild. We dine in the juicy tenders of gossip. We trade in hidden secrets for a price. We know anything and everything about anything and everything. Without care for any being's wellbeing we tear apart organisations, stab people in the back and make mockery of vows. We are not and will not be tied down to a singular group."

"Just like devils, huh?"

"That's a first.", The boy chuckled.

"Is it really?", Alexi grabbed his chest.

"Hm?", The boy tilted his head, an unreadable smile on his face. "What do you mean by that, Arbiter?"

"Oh, nothing.", Alexi leaned back in his seat. "Just news I heard about a certain devil posing as an information broker in the Umbral Sphere?"

Alexi could have been mistaken, but for a single moment, he saw the boy's face flash into a frown.

"This is news to me.", The boy offered his hand to Alexi. "It seems you have some information to trade then?"

'Not going to give in easily, huh?', Alexi shrugged.

"Not on this topic. I want information on something else."

"And what might that be, Arbiter?"

"Are you aware of a thing called the Infernal System?"

It was a long shot. A really, really long shot. Information that under any logical means, should not be available to any character in the story, not even this one. But Alexi couldn't help but ask just in case.

The boy made a pinching motion. Alexi's brows furrowed as he pulled out a gold coin, then placed it on the desk.

The boy swiped the coin, then tapped on the orb. It projected a holographic screen before Alexi. One that looked exactly like Alexi's.

"The infernal system, huh? It's a unique ability that a few infernals seem to possess. It's origins and purpose are unknown to me. All I know is that those with this system don't live long."

"Eh?"

Alexi blinked, guffawed at the explanation.

"Though, I do find it curious how much it's been popping up lately. Is there something you might want to let me in on?"

This made no sense.

There was no such mechanic in the original story. Did Lazy God's influence spread much further than Alexi originally presumed?

If Lazy God could add such a detail to the story, what else could she have added? And why was there a shortened life span on the demons with the system?

'Just what the hell are you doing to my story?', Alexi clenched his fists in a rage.

He looked at the boy. His expression was unreadable as always. Any wrong move and Alexi wouldn't make it out of this room. But with how little knowledge he had on the changes Lazy God made and his severe lack of power, Alexi had no choice but to try to make some moves.

He thought he held the cards, but Lazy God was hiding hers.

"I wish to find a certain person. A being, if you will."

"Just give the name and a price will be attached to them."

"The devil Laplace."

***

Alexi hopped out the black portal and found himself nearly falling into a trash can. The old man next to him was fast asleep, like he didn't hear anything.

Alexi shrugged then dropped his mask at the old man's feet. He looked at the time on his watch and found that he had an hour to spare. The meeting was much shorter than he anticipated. And now he had some time to kill.

"Hmm, I could go sightseeing. It would be nice to actually see the world I created."

He walked out of the alleyway and into the bright streets. The fresh aroma hit him like a soft pillow, making him stretch and yawn.

As soon as he decided on his next steps, something caught his eye. Rather, it was a person with long flowing silver hair. Her pearl-like skin seemed to dazzle in the reflection of the bright neon lights, only dimmed by her bright vermillion red eyes. The only reason a woman of such beautiful received glares of fear, distrust and anger as she marched through the streets were the pair of red horns growing from the sides of her head.

"Fala.", Alexi muttered as she strolled off, oblivious to the attention she garnered.

"What's she doing out here?", He pondered. "A recluse like her should be sleeping in her room or something. This is weird."

Alexi looked at his watch yet again.

6:36

"Well, I guess I can tail her."

With that plan in mind, he followed after her from a safe distance. If this was the same Fala from his story, he wouldn't have even bothered hiding himself from her. Clearly this version was more proactive. Maybe she was actually aware of her surroundings this time around.

After half an hour of tailing, Alexi realised a few things.

Firstly, an infernal, tailing another infernal in a city was not the brightest idea. They both stood out, especially the one sneaking up on the other.

Secondly, Fala was still an airhead. That key aspect of her character at the start still remained.

Thirdly, she was lost.

She'd been looking around for quite some time now, and was pacing around. Her face showed no emotion, but maybe because Alexi essentially created her, he could tell what she was feeling at the moment.

He scratched the back of his head, then stretched.

Because he was focusing so much on her, he didn't get to do an actual sightseeing. They had around 20 minutes to return to the dorms to avoid getting punished.

Alexi felt it was time to give up on it. Fala could surely handle the punishment the school would give her. For now, he chose to silently retreat.

Or, at least he hoped to silently retreat.

"Who's there?"

Fala's words echoed in the somewhat abandoned street.

Alexi's eyes widened in fear. She somehow caught him? When he didn't even make a sound? Was she actually aware of his presence this entire time?

"Come out before I attack you."

She threatened.

Alexi's mind flashed through all of Fala's skills. He shrieked internally at the thought of her doing something to him.

"I-I'm sorry…"

Alexi popped his head out and saw 5 people surrounding Fala. He quickly shut his mouth then hid himself.