488 Shocking revelation - the three wizards of Harry Potter Multiverse

Which Death?

Kai wasn't sure himself.

ARCEUS THE ORIGINAL ONE…

Kai didn't even know how the Pokemon counted as one of the Death-personifying entities. That he had caused annihilation in one of the Pokemon worlds already made him apprehensive about conversing with HIM.

No. This won't do.

NEKRON OF THE DARKNESS…

No. Kai didn't know enough about HIM for him to make rational decisions regarding anything.

DEATH OF THE ENDLESS…

SHE was better than the last two, but Kai remembered the playful laugh that had come along with HER gaze. No. Too many variables.

SPECTER OF DEATH…

SHE was out of options as well. This Deep One had played with Thanos as if he was a toy. Kai couldn't think what would SHE do to him. Not in this precarious situation.

So, once again in his life, or better to say, even in his death, Kai felt himself fated to HIM. Only one choice remained. Not the best. But the most sensible.

"Connect me to… THE ARTIFICER."

"Very well," the female replied. "Please wait while we forward your call. However, there is no guarantee of your call being accepted, Mr. Blood Demon."

Kai grunted in reply.

So he waited. Every passing second threatened to unnerve Kai. The silence on the other end felt enlarging, seeping out through the receiver, entering this strange white world. Even the rhythmic melody of the waves in the background faded.

And when the silence broke, it arrived like a hiss.

[Hahaha!]

Kai jumped, his head snapping in all directions. The laugh sounded like someone was standing right by his side, the voice entering directly into his ears. However, other than the Cartoonist, who was lying on the beach chair, Kai found no one.

[So we meet, my Scion.]

For once, Kai lacked words to say. He kept feeling like someone was standing on his left, behind him, or even hovering above his head, upside-down. This was a twisted feeling, pulling out his annoyance.

"I am at the Boundary," Kai said, forcing out word after word. "Can you help me… in returning?"

The silence lingered on the other side, but Kai could almost swear that he heard the laugh. Just not as clearly as before.

[I can.]

Kai licked his lips. This was a thin line he was walking on now. Every word, every letter, and every breath would dictate if he would live or… No. There was no "or", Kai told himself. He must do anything to go back, as long as it was within the boundaries of his beliefs.

"What do you want?" Kai asked, knowing well that a stupendous sacrifice would be needed to do what he wanted HIM to do.

[Wrong question, my Scion.]

Kai rubbed his left ear; the wretched feeling of someone speaking, and yet not, was seeping into his soul. He was still thinking about Death's comment when his right ear almost exploded.

"Yo, Death!" a voice forced its way between Kai and the Deep One. "What's up, doc? How's missy?"

Stupefied, Kai looked back and found the Cartoonist holding the handset of an exact-looking red telephone. The two phones seemed connected somehow, like two phones sharing the same line within a house.

The Cartoonist noticed Kai and winked at him, his rabbit ears twitching.

[You are still there…]

Kai couldn't believe it. The same voice, which was so powerful, mysterious, and baffling a moment before, now held a touch of amusement and shock.

"Go easy on him, bro," the Cartoonist said, chewing on the carrot. "You must trust me on this."

[…]

Kai smothered the shock and asked, "What can I give to you?" He knew what this Death wanted, for HE had already come for it once. Eon Soul Dew, the Legendary Item. But he would never give it to HIM. Better was to remain dead than let others enjoy the juice of his hard-earned fruits.

[Better. But you have nothing I want, my Scion.]

"Impossible!" Kai blurted, narrowing his eyes. "Didn't you come for Eon Soul Dew, the Legendary Item? You almost killed me."

"What?!" the Cartoonist screamed in their ears. "You have a Legendary Item?"

[I am an Artificer. Innovative designs garner my attention, my Scion. I was merely interested in having a look at it. You just ran away too soon. And, if I wanted an Item, should I not want the one that can go beyond Legendary? Like the Book in your possession.]

"What?!" the Cartoonist screamed into the ears again. "You truly have something like that? Damn! Oh, well. Nothing surprising, I guess."

"…"

[…]

Kai took a deep breath. "What is it, then?" he demanded. "There must be something."

[There is. I want you to do something on my behalf, my Scion. Something… only your kind can do.]

What?

Kai felt troubled. A task from the Deep One? How impossible and illogical this task would be? It would be like resurrecting only to die again.

But what else could he do? The question birthed, lived, and died in Kai's mind. There was no other choice. No other path. This was it, the only chance.

"Tell me."

[Haha! I want you to do something which you are best at…]

"Acting like an idiot?" the rabbit-eared man cut in, earning himself a glare from Kai. The Cartoonist swiped fingers on his lips, a zip line appearing there, sealing his mouth.

[… Killing, of course. I want you to kill someone. A nuisance.]

Kai's heart thumped. Over 1300 years of life; patience, calm, and composedness. Yet, nothing could prepare him for a one-to-one conversation with Death and a Kill Order from HIM.

"Who?" Kai asked, hoping against the odds.

[You know them.]

"Them?!" Kai blurted, his voice trembling. Didn't He just say "someone"?

"I like it already," the Cartoonist said, his voice echoing within the telephone.

[Merlinus Ambrosius…]

"What?!" Kai again blurted, his grip tightening over the handset. Didn't Merlin die ages ago?

"Good reaction, my gullible friend," the Cartoonist commented, whistling. "Let me in it, too. WHAT?! MERLIN? THE VERY ONE?!"

Kai's chest heaved up and down. Alas! Death gave him no breather.

[Ekrizdis, the Shaman…]

"Wha… Who?!" Kai felt the telephone slipping away through his fingers. How was this possible? Hadn't the dark wizard already died hundreds of years ago?

"Whoa!" the Cartoonist forced himself in. "Now that's something, eh? I am already useless to you…"

They ignored him. The tension was rising, along with the amusement seeping out from the other side of the telephone; from the Death.

Kai didn't know what he was going to hear next. But he knew something had gone horribly wrong in his calculations when he was in the Harry Potter World. He had overlooked something; a dark, hideous undercurrent.

When the next name arrived, it arrived like a dying man's breath. A broken gasp.

[Herpo the Foul.]

"This is… Impossible!" Kai thundered, rejecting the truth. "Merlin is already dead. I saw the Artifact with my own eyes. Ekrizdis can't be alive as well. Why would the Order of Immortal Lotus let him live for so long? And Herpo the Foul… Didn't you say you wanted me to kill someone? Why give me three names, then?"

"You don't know?" the Cartoonist's voice, for the first time, sounded incredibly shocked. "Odd! Truly odd!!"

What? Kai found himself going silent upon hearing the Cartoonist's words. Had he missed something?

[Hahaha!] Death's laugh shook Kai's body, rattling his ears, mind, and heart. [Three names, indeed, my Scion. But…]

No! Kai shook his head. It couldn't be!

[… Only one person.]

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AN: Oooooooohhhh!!!