A garden filled with small flowers.
In the middle of it, is a tea house.
There, a table is set, and a few chairs are arranged. It was like a lady was in here.
But strangely, Zypher is familiar with the said place.
Standing at the garden, he was looking at the tea house, the the chairs around it.
There were four of them, surrounding one table.
"You're here, Kuya."
A voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Zeron, no, Zyvier, his in game character, is standing behind him.
Zypher, upon seeing him, was boggled at first, but then, he flung his hand and hugged Zyvier.
The other one hugged him back, like brothers who did not meet each other for a very long time.
"There, there."
Zyvier said as he comforted his older brother, or should we say, older twin.
Zypher, feeling this, tapped his hand away and smugly said.
"I didn't know you were here. How come?"
Zyvier, hearing this, shook his head and invited Zypher onto the tea house.
"It will be a long story."
He said as they walked in.
As soon as they sat, they talked about everything they missed about each other.
But before it took long, Zypher had to ask.
"Zeron, what year is it?"
Hearing this, Zeron stopped on his tracks.
The happy face, turned forlorn, sadness coloring his canvas.
"You didn't remember?"
Zeron said as he breathed out.
"Remember what?"
Hearing this, Zeron stood up and looked at Zypher.
"Did you meet him?"
"Who?"
"The Faceless?"
Upon hearing, Zypher's mouth suddenly stopped talking.
"So you met him too?"
This time, Zypher sounded exasperated as he pulled up his sleeves.
Behind the sleeves was a chain, but different from Zypher's, his chain has a deep purple and black color, and some of it has even green in it.
"That's.."
Showing the veins of his body that connected to the chains, Zypher saw that the chains became parts of Zyvier's body, and is beginning to integrate to it.
"Absolute Obedience. A curse that lets me follow the command of someone who I lost to."
Zyvier's sadness deepened and explained.
"And I lost to him, and he gave me a command."
Zyvier said as he clenched his fist.
"To not die."
After saying that, the mood turned sour, yet something bothered Zypher's mind. He can't point it out just yet, but he feels that something is off.
"Hey, Zaon, are you alright?"
Hearing his name, Zypher suddenly stopped overthinking.
His mind shut off for a bit, and decided to go with Zyvier's phase.
They talked for a few hours, and Zypher found out some things he needed.
First, it was the tenth year anniversary of the game, and it is the same time as the starting point of his past life's account.
Secondly, he has known the schemes of Mr. Celess, and how he confused people to take on his cards.
These information created a web map of things and goals Zypher wants to get before others take it: Items, Classes, and Titles, but his Black Chains are the problem.
Now, he has to solve this issue before fighting more big shots.
Sighing, Zypher and Zyvier arrived at the end of their conversation. Catching up, giving tips, and also, the brotherly bond they shared.
"Take this." Zyvier said, giving Zypher a book.
"What's this?" Zypher asked.
"That's the Codex. I built it from scratch, and now, I am passing it down to you."
"But my Gray Chains--"
CLING! CLING! CLANG!
Sounds of chains suddenly echoed as Zypher's hand held the book.
"Oh, and another thing."
Zyvier added, while Zypher is still flabbergasted about the change.
"I have created something for you, but I guess that you completely emptied it."
Zyvier continued.
"So yeah, no more plot armor for you."
"What?"
Suddenly, a huge hole appeared, and it sucked Zypher so fast that he didn't had the time to process the information.
Zyvier, seeing this, waved at him and smiled. Then, a sudden glitch happened.
His left side of the face glitched, and one by one, the white flowers turned black, purple and green.
Bzzt! Bzzt!
All the glitches then came to life, like a one wave, and it opened a place filled with the foulness and ugliness, different from the place Zypher was in earlier.
The person, who was Zyvier earlier, was having a battle between him and his mind, as he started to tremble, squirm and seizure.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed another arm, and green luscious armor came into his body.
His face, that was filled with smiles, became filled with mischief and lies.
At the end of his transformation, his scepter flew out of space, and tore through the whole place.
"Are you happy now?"
The voice said.
"Not quite yet, Loki."
Zyvier's voice sounded, although it almost felt like he is fading out as the sentence finished.
"So, you're gonna betray me again?"
"Who betrayed who?"
Suddenly, silence permeated the hall.
Loki, hearing Zyvier, hit the floor with his scepter and grimaced.
"You are lucky, Zyvier, but that luck will bite you back."
"I know, but a dog remains a dog, okay? Now sit."
Suddenly, a black, purple and green chain wrapped around Loki's neck, torso and limbs glowed.
Then, it pulled him down to the ground, up to the position of a sitting dog.
"You thought I wouldn't know about you taking my brother?"
Zyvier's voice sounded, anger and ridicule powering it.
Loki, who wanted to talk, was not able to, as Zyvier is not telling him too.
"Leave him be, or you will face me."
Suddenly, all of the boundaries and everything disappeared. Loki, who was sitting like a dog collapsed under the pressure, and also, from the pain of his thighs from the prolonged exposure to the pain.
"Zypher, huh?"
He mumbled as he took note of the name.
"I will make sure you pay your brother's crime."
He said and stood up, then walked out of the place.
Wrath filling his mind.