Chapter 12 : [After all there's always] Consequences (3)

I stood on a pillar with red liquids. The spear in my hand glows golden as it melts into a Halo. I walked around to find myself another weapon. A hammer was conveniently placed in front of me. I grabbed the damned thing to feel it's weight. It's heavy, but balanced.

*SCREECH*

Another screech resounded, as I looked upwards. You guys never learn now do you? Heh. This is getting fun. I wonder if this is how powerful entities feel when they're fighting weaklings! Yep. This power trip is fun!

Time passes differently in every dimension… or so I was told, but in paradiso it is always sunny, and I'm dying, killing, getting revived and repeat! What kind of masochist does this… oh yeah… me! I swung my hammer as it smashed a chicken into a paste…

But damn… this is getting boring! Although the enemy variety increases, it's still just a variation of the damn chicken! Either a fatter one or a taller one… the fatter chicken drops around 10 odds halos while the taller one drops 20.

I lost count for how many halos I get, but my killing rate right now is about 5 a minute… which is quite low to be honest… but if I had Pandora with me.. Nope nevermind… Scratch that idea… but really I need a weapon though.

My massacre stopped abruptly, as halos which came from the corpses disappeared like usual… the clacking of steel, and the vibration on the floating platforms… came to an halt, an eerie silence ensued… the hairs in my hands stood up… I felt something behind me. As I turned around.

Ok… which chicken do I have to kill this ti— F*ck.

The figure that's behind me is a behemoth-like figure, it's a giant chicken, whose hands are both replaced with gatling guns… oi oi oi. Isn't this one of the boss monsters? I had to take this down? Umm… Can I at least use the mech that I buy?

As if the universe listened to my pleas… a patch of paper landed on my face, with a big 'NO'. in it. Well F*ck you too Rodin! That's the last thing I did. Then I was mowed down by a gatling gun.

===

I cannot scratch that thing with my fist! Yep, that's all I'm going to say. And I will deny all allegations of me trying to hit it with my fists. So how am I supposed to kill this thing?

The bright side is that I know how much it hurts to be mowed down by a gatling gun with the bullet diameter that's about my height. Right now I'm running with tails between my legs, as I'm trying to find a weapon… or find a way to injure that damn fat chicken!

I kept running towards a random direction, as the platforms were either smashed to pieces by the giant chicken, or were shot down. The ruins of what came before that made the majority of my standing platform is getting annihilated. Sooner or later I'll just fall down towards the sea of clouds. And something tells me that I don't want that…

I was running in desperation, as a peculiar structure caught my eye. That's a church isn't it?

*BANG BANG BANG BANG*

It has rockets too? Explosions ensued around me as I tried my best to reach the church, hoping to lose the damn overweight chicken inside the structure.

===

The Church is gigantic. The door itself is big enough for the chicken to pass through… Bust trough, as the entrance is blasted through by the Angel. It doesn't waste any time as it begins shooting in my general direction. I had this tingling feeling that it has an ability to track me down.

The bullets didn't stop even for a second… What are those things made out of anyway!? I mean if that was me who was shooting I would've run out of bullets!

*RATATATATA*

The bullets tore through the base of the church, as I kept running deeper. And then I found my way into this glorious hall that's very well decorated. This seems to be the church's chancel. And there's something interesting in the middle.

*CRASH*

The roof above me gave in, the broken glass reflecting the giant chicken fell down into the floor, it did not hurt the chicken one bit. As it landed on the chancel floor. A thud resounded. A violent quake stumbled me as cracks formed in the floor.

*CRACK CRACK BOOM*

The floor gave in! You've got to be shitting me! I fell down into this creepy looking place. There's empty cells… well currently empty, evident with the skeleton… and then in the middle of the room, there seems to be a jar with a black object inside of it.

*SCREECH*

OH THIS STUPID BIRD DIDN'T KNOW WHEN TO QUIT!

My sight landed on the menacing jar in the middle of the room. Rushing to it, I grabbed the damn thing and just threw it to the chicken!

*SCREECH*

The jar broke even before it hit the damn chicken. I expect the chicken to scream or to melt because of the black goo, but what happens is… nothing…

I just ended up having a staring contest with the chicken… as it does to me… WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!? And then suddenly…

*BOOM*

The chicken imploded, its body sucked into its center of gravity. And then… nothing… WELL DAMN WHAT THE FREAK WAS THAT!?

*clang clang*

A marble… a black marble fell into my hands…. NOPE THIS THING!? NOPE NOPE NOPE TO HELL WITH IT!

"Congratulations, Liam! You've earned 1,200,000 Halos, well 1,234,567 to be exact. 34,567 halos are yours."

"... You could've saved me before I became a meat paste can't you ?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you ?"

"I mean you are having fun. Who is a man to deny another's pleasure?"

I'm having fun!? WELL I OUGHTA!

WAIT CALM DOWN ME…! This Voyeur Angel is one of the most powerful beings.

*breath in*

*breath out*

"So… WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING?"

"It's a she! I told you before–"

"--Every weapon is a female… BUT WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?"

"... The original Pandora…"

NOPE! NOPE NOPE NOPE! I tossed the marble to Rodin.

A table tennis board suddenly materialized… he ended up deflecting my throw, I grabbed the table tennis bat that materialized and then hit it back to Rodin! Hell no! I'm not going to bring this with me!

===

*pang* *pang* *pang* *pang*

The game continued… but I lost in the end… As rodin somehow aimed it towards my mouth, AND I ENDED UP SWALLOWING THE DAMN THING!

*cough cough cough*

The thing went straight into my throat, with no way to force it back out…

"SCREW YOU RODIN!"

"You wish, kid!"

Words cannot express my anger… as a figure appears before me.

[Liam, glad you're alright!]

Moriarty… why are you so… haggard!

[Look, we cannot stand a chance against Rodin, if it's a one on one, but with proper planning and—]

"You do realize I can hear you guys right?"

[Tch… Let's take the L for now. I call for a tactical retreat!]

One day rodin, One day….

"I'll be waiting kiddo…"

===

The familiar bar came into view… BUT WHY THE HELL IS IT FILLED WITH MUNDANE PEOPLE!?

"AHAHAHAHAH! I have moriarty to thank… no, it's you I have to thank for that! Imagine, I can just market your faces here and chicks flock to this place in no time!"

[... It's a miscalculation on my part…]

"Happy Accidents, is it not? AHAHHAHA!"

[You see, it was supposed to be a plan to pay Rodin back your… debt… ]

I'm listening…

[So, I propose a jazz club, with a good musician, and a few promotion ideas… and then one thing leads to another, and here we are…]

YOU SKIPPED A LOT OF PART! But I think I get the idea… I then noticed my uniform is back and restored… and moriarty is… the same as me, but with eyeshadows on, we have a slightly different hairstyle, where his is wild and sharply protruding like a shounen protagonist, mine is laid back like a gentleman.

"I'll leave you guys to it…"

Wait I just got back and you expect me to— Eh?

A shot of vodka, sure!

Martini? Easy!

Bloody Mary? I think she's behind you, but here you go!

I glanced around to find… Moriarty on the stage playing… multiple instruments… While singing a very alluring jazz… he's using a very complicated contraption… his hands are playing a guitar with two necks…. His feets are tapping a button that allows the contraption to play the drums… and is that a piano I see behind you? I'll leave it to you brother… oh a harmonica solo… nice…

Yep this is slavery…

"AH! LIAM! Glad you're back!"

"Eh? Shiho, Ann!? What are you doing here?"

I glanced at the double trouble maker…. I hope that they're not here to get drunk again…

"Oh my gosh, why did you not tell us about your twin?"

"Y-yeah! Liam senapai, why didn't you tell us that he won several international mathematics competitions!"

BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW!!! DUHHH!!!

"And that Tv show that he's on! The one featuring James Moriarty's POV! He looked like a great actor! And the story felt so real! Mori-san even had a fan club in our school! "

Ann had stars in her eyes… Well, he is James Moriarty… But anyway… HOW LONG WAS I GONE!?

"Y-y-yeah! B-b-but you're s-s-s-till….. Better in my eyes…"

The last part was almost silent… BUT PLEASE DON'T GIVE ME THAT FLAG! NO! NOPE! EVEN IF I DON'T REJECT YOU, Please don't say that in front of Alice… I can't handle a demon princess wreaking havoc!

"Anyway, We're glad you're back, senpai! We're worried when Alice-senpai told us that you're heading to the US to get better treatment…But to think that you've been gone for 5 months…"

5 MONTHS!? HOLY FUCK…. RODIN!!

"But I'm sad that you didn't repeat the year! "

What was that Shiho? YOU WANT ME TO REPEAT THE GRADE!?

"--- I mean I'm glad you still have time to do the final test even within the US hospital…"

NEVER AGAIN…. NO.. I bet I'm in someone's plan who deliberately put me in the same timeline in persona 5, I already had a plan to mess with kamoshida…

"Speaking of which… Senpai, did you know that there's a new guy in our class today! He's like a delinquent of some sort! But when I looked at him he's just a dork though… nothing to write home about… "

SAYS THE ONE WHO WILL JOIN HIS LITTLE HAREM!

"Y-Y-Yeah! Imagine, he's guilty of sexual assault on a woman, and an assault allegation against her boss who tried to stop the boy!"

Shiho says with spite and disgust… So this means that the plot has even started!? F**K! Really?

"Oh and senpai… "

"Yeah?"

"I think it's safer for us to not use public transportation for a while…"

… Why does my flag alarm suddenly tingles…

"It appears that there's more and more cases of this… mental shutdown… happening… where suddenly people would just lose themselves… and goes blank… there's been a train crash and a bus crash… and in your case senpai… it's been concluded that the driver that crashed into you shows symptoms of this… mental shutdown…."

Wait wait wait.. Hold on a damn minute! Why? I mean I tried to destroy flags…

"BROTHER!"

Speaking of flags… a blonde haired ponytail girl came into the bar with Cereza… oh this cannot be good….

"Mother Cereza."

"Liam! You're finally back! So how's Laguna?"

"... Worst experience ever."

"Hahaha! Yep, that's why I prefer Infernal more!"

You got that right!

"Shiho-chan, Ann-chan! Good to see you girls… So… How's school?"

"Aunt Cereza!"x2

Mother Cereza speaks to both of the girls about… girls stuff…

"Hey! Don't Ignore me!"

"Ah… Erika…"

"Brother!"

She leaped into my body as she hugged me. I felt… connected to her… My shock hasn't passed yet, as my gaping mouth is covered by hers.. It's the taste of… strawberry… I felt her sucking something out of me…

"KYAAA!"

"LIAM!"

"Oh my! *Click*"

The voice brings me back into focus. As I hurriedly grabbed her and pulled her away. I saw the balck marble on her mouth as she seemed… intoxicated… And was that a camera flash Cereza!?

"Liam! You can't, that's your sister isn't it!"

"Adopted!"

Mother Cereza, please don't feed the flames!

"Hold on a moment! I can explain! She drank one of the drinks!"

My brain worked overtime to find an alibi.

"Shame… My little Erika loves her brother so much…"

"Mother!"

"Hahahaha, It's getting late, I'll take little Erika home… oh yeah, your car's ready! Don't break it, and be a good brother and share with Mori too…"

Oi Oi Oi… I have so many questions… Who would believe that you came here to see my health, stay for 5 minutes and then go… Sus!

===

The clock is reaching midnight as the bar's occupancy rate dropped drastically… It seems that Tuesday nights do that to people… some are going home with their lovers… Yep Raiju can explode! And then there's also some people trying their luck elsewhere… some of Mori's fans are still screaming for an encore…

"S-S-Senpai!"

"Yeah…"

"I have a request!"

"Ohoho what's this, a request! Should I go to the toilet first so you lovebirds can talk it out!"

"N-NO! It's nothing like that ann!"

Come on, don't keep me waiting… I mean I know it's not a confession, but still… The anticipation is killing me…

"I–I-I know that you usually drive us home safely, but for tonight… can we—"

"Nope!"

"EHHHHH!? But I haven't even told you what I wanted yet!"

Yeah right, you wanted to say something like can it just be the two of us? Or can we take a detour first, or can we drop Ann first right? Nu uh! Not happening!

"Maybe on the weekends…"

"Ehhh… but…"

Yeah I'll not be here this weekend! Yeah! Go Me! Destroy that flag! (WN: And her heart)... But shiho somehow seems downcasted… Ann is looking awkwardly at me… Eh? It's my fault now?

"Oh yeah… before I forget… I did bring you something from the US…."

Yeah time to bullshit my way out of this! My trip to laguna is not just full of killings and massacres, sometimes, I come across loot, like necklaces and bracelets… for situations like this!

"Here for you Ann!"

I gave Ann a bracelet with a little red ruby… I'm 100% sure that it's not a weapon of any kind… Yep That I'm sure of!

"And for Shiho… Can you close your eyes!"

Shiho did, I went out of the bar, and went behind her, I placed a necklace, with an obsidian colored stone on her neck, and tied the necklace. This necklace… I'm sure that it reduces damage… I hope that it also has an effect in the real world…

"!"

Yep, save… Sorry shiho… maybe a bit more… I can respond to your feelings… But not now… Huh… Who am I kidding…

"Brother…"

"Yeah?"

"Are you just flirting around when I was doing all the work!"

He threw me a broom, and we started swiping the place… I cleaned the bar, the chairs, and even the stage… Shiho and Ann are also helping a bit by washing the dishes…

"Hey bro…"

"Yeah ?"

"Does Rodin ever manage this business, or just you ?"

"Just me, why?"

"Does that mean that this is our business now?"

"Well if we go into the technical term then yes."

"So this is slavery huh…"

"Yep. Anyway I'll be walking back first, you can use the car… since I'll use it tomorrow morning. So, see you at home?"

"Yeah see you home bro."

Mori, I misjudged you… You're a bro! And it's a dodge challenger! BRO!!!!!

===

NOPE! YOU'RE NOT A BRO! I fell for the oldest trick in the book! No gas! Shitty Bro! As usual, I dropped Shiho and Ann back to Shiho's home… and I said goodbye.

"Thanks Liam-senpai!"

"Y-Y-yeah! Thanks… Liam!"

I wished them goodbye as I also went home. Jeanne is already waiting for me…

"..."

"..."

We stared at each other for a moment…

"Mother, I'm home…"

"Welcome home Liam."

I hugged Jeanne tight… I miss this feeling…