126 5.4

Making our attacker spin on himself with the Force, I asked, "We barely landed and already have someone onto us. They are either incredibly lucky or that's some sick surveillance skills."

Mary approached the man, who had stopped struggling and was looking at Mary with cold eyes.

The two remained silent at first, before Mary broke the ice, "It has been a while, Francis."

Our attacker, Francis, tried to spit at her, but only ended up with it getting sent right back to his face, "How dare you come back!"

Before Mary could reply, I stopped making him spin, and remarked, "You are being remarkably calm for someone being telekinetically manhandled."

Francis looked at me for a second, before saying to Mary, "Not only did you kill our master, but you even had the audacity to bring an invader. Did our teachings mean nothing to you? Don't you feel any shame!"

While I started understanding Prometheus was much bigger and more important than I initially conceived, Mary sighed, "He isn't, but I know whatever I say won't change anything."

Francis snorted, and turned to look at me, his eyes venomous, "You foul beast, you may kill me, but more will come after me, and once the Sacred Knights find you, they will purge you!"

I smiled at the threats, which only seemed to make him angrier, but Mary suddenly patted my shoulder, and said, "We need to let him go."

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, as while I didn't particularly felt like killing him, Mary seemed to have something on her mind.

While Francis looked at Mary with a hint of surprise, I nodded, and lowered Francis to the ground. He tried to move, but I forcefully restrained his limbs from apart, still stopping him from moving.

Mary approached him, and grabbing his head with both hands, she moved her face a few centimeters from his own, her eyes looking deep into his as she said, "I know you have all the reasons in the world to hate me, but if you have ever valued our friendship, please listen to me."

I lowered my restraint on Francis, allowing him some liberty of movement, and while he looked like he hesitated to try to strike her at first, he ended up remaining immobile, simply staring at Mary.

She kept his gaze and warned, "Go back to the organization, and report my words to the Council. Investigate Nodeo, and be absolutely wary of them."

Francis internally debated the issue, before asking, "How grave are we talking."

"Black alert."

Francis' eyes widened, and I completely let go of him as he stared at Mary. She took her distance from him, and added, "You've always been a slave to appearances, Francis. But there is more to everything."

Francis looked like he wanted to ask about her cryptic words, but I sent him flying away, making sure I wasn't hurting him in the process of course, while Mary and I walked away.

"What was that about?" Francis may not be able to ask, but I sure did.

Mary shook her head, dismissing my question, "The last step in a trainee's journey within Prometheus is to find a master, and the best trainees are apprenticed under members of the Council. They can only have one trainee at a time, but Francis was the generation before me, and shared my master."

"What about him calling me an invader?" I asked what I really had on my mind.

"Well… I may not have said everything about Prometheus."

I chortled, "You don't say?"

Mary looked away, as if ashamed and embarrassed, "I didn't lie when I said I didn't know for sure what Prometheus' true goal was, but officially, they raise us to fight the invading forces on our world."

"So they think I am an invader because of my powers?" I knew her well enough to understand she wasn't really feeling bad about her earlier omission, and she quickly caught onto it as she dropped the act, and sighed instead.

"It looks like it, but it is still strange. Some things don't add up. I still lack some information. I will tell you about it when I figure it out."

Since she had made it clear she wasn't going to delve any deeper into the subject, I decided to change it entirely and asked, "So, where are we going now?"

"To the Underworld."

"Spooky~"

Mary suddenly stopped, and as I looked at her quizzically, she asked, "Weren't you supposed to be the always stern leader? Why are you acting like this is a comedy?"

I was about to say something, but she quickly added, "I know you haven't told us everything about what happened in Skyrim. You may have fooled the others, but I know something happened. Something that changed you."

I stared at her for a moment, before smiling, "Well, you are the best placed to know that not everything should be said."

"Some things should still be said. And this seems to be something I should worry about. Does opening the Third Genetic Constraint affect one's personality."

I froze for a moment, before chuckling, "It has nothing to do with the Genetic Constraint. I already told you everything about the Third Genetic Constraint. And I didn't change, I just got a new perspective on things."

"Stop beating around the bush already!"

I paused, for dramatic purpose, and finally revealed, "God, his dimension and the whole game might seem almost omnipotent to you, but it is not as strong as you think it is. What was once a struggle for survival, now feels more like… well, a game."

I spread out my arms, looking at the skyscrapers not so far and the city around us, "And honestly, after what I went through, being back on Earth is almost comedic."

Mary remained silent, but as I had started unwinding, I couldn't help but add, "When you faced a god, a world where the strongest power are nuclear weapons is comedic indeed."

Mary finally reacted as she asked, "What do you mean faced a god?"

Stopping as I realized I had slipped it up, I stopped, but Mary asked, "You talked to a god? What god, how, where-"

Knowing it was already too late, I finally relented and explained, "Daedric Artefacts like the Skeleton Key are made from the very essence of the Daedric Prince who made them. So, as I tried to take the Skeleton Key with me out of Skyrim, things did not go as smoothly as I said. The Skeleton Key did not just fly out of my hand."

Thinking back of the moment, I continued, "While the Third Genetic Constraint was opened, I had full control over my mind, and God couldn't daze me as it tried to get me back to our dimension."

"Tried?"

"God doesn't really teleport us, we instead travel through a place I call Chaos. And there, as I tried to leave, Nocturnal attacked. All she had to do to break God's protection was to squeeze the light beam, and I was suddenly stranded in the middle of chaos, after having tried to steal a part of her.

"Needless to say, she wasn't too happy about that. And I'm going to spare you the details, but God wasn't of any help. I had to fight Nocturnal alone, and push her back, before God's light could reach me again, and finally take me back to its dimension."

Mary was silent, shaken by what she had learned. This was exactly why I didn't want to say anything about this.

Still, Mary was remarkably stronger than the rest of our team, so even though she was shocked, she quickly got a hold of herself, and said, "Earth does feel a little laughable in comparison."