Paradox Saga: Rising Sun

My Godfather Lets Me See My Past

After reading the prophecy about my role at the prevention or cause of the apocalypse, I had butterflies in my stomach. When my godfather requested to talk to me, my stomach squirmed, like the butterflies were as big as the Underground Crawlers from the Anaphor yesterday. 

"Yeah. Sure, Sadao-san," I answered and sat down again.

Sadao-san looked at me with a serious face. "I guess you're pretty upset today, aren't you?"

"Well, probably..."

"And I know you're probably confused with things now"

I nodded. "I guess so. With this Memory Resonate that Mom did to me, my mind's starting to become hazy."

"Like some of your memories are fake?" he asked. 

I looked at him. "How'd you guessed it?"

"The thing is, Shiro, I was one of the people who cleared your memories," Sadao-san confessed. "You are a special one among Figures, Shiro. A Paradox, to be exact."

They looked at me like I should react in shock or surprise. 

"Paradox? You mean figuratively?" I asked.

He laughed. "Not exactly but yeah, you are a Paradox."

I raised a brow. "What exactly do you mean?"

The image on the screen changed. It was now showing people in different attires. Not a single one of them had the same weapon and armor. One was wearing a robe and was holding a short pole while another image showed someone holding a weird-looking knife. 

Sadao-san looked at the screen. "We Figures are classified into seven main classes: Tank, Warrior, Assassin, Mage, Support, Craftsman and Ranger. Majority of the Figures around the world has only a single role out of these classifications based on their Metaphors. However, a few people have the ability to assume more than one role."

"Wait, what is this 'metaphor'"? I interrupted. 

"It's Metaphor, Shiro," Sadao-san said with an emphasis on the word metaphor, "with a capital M. Yes, that's the reason why we are called Figures as we have a Metaphor. Metaphors are what we call the abilities unique to us Figures," he explained. "As I was saying, a few people may assume more that one class and they are what we call Paradoxes."

"So, if I'm a Paradox and I can play multiple roles, that means I also have multiple abilities, these Metaphor thing, right?"

"Yes, Shiro," Sadao-san simple replied. 

I laughed. "Sadao-san, that's one hell of a joke. That was funny!"

I looked at him. The expression on his face clearly showed he was serious. I looked at the girls. They were looking at me intently.

"You were joking, right?" I clarified. 

"I'm not, Shiro. You're an overpowered Figure which was the reason you were suspended for years," Sadao-san said. "Perhaps, you're having dreams, if I guessed correctly"

"Yes, I do. Why?" I replied as he stood. 

"I think it's time to let you see what happened to you years ago," he said and walked to my direction. 

"What do you mean?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he got a paper with the word 'Memory' in kanji and put it on his head, making him look like a Chinese zombie. 

He held my shoulders. "This may be a little disorienting so prepare in advance." 

I tried to say something when suddenly, the whole world spun violently. The whole place along with the girls swirled like coffee powder being mixed. My eyes were throbbing so much I swear they would pop out their sockets if this keeps going. 

"Just a little more," Sadao-san seemed to say though his voice was more of a static echo than a regular one. 

I resisted the urge to puke. My brain spun like it was put inside a blender. Every second felt like a whole minute. Then, everything went steady. One moment, I was in super nausea and then, it disappeared as if it didn't exist at all. 

"We're already here, kid," Sadao-san said. 

My nausea was now slowly disappearing. My eyes were hazy, at first. All was blurred at first like a hastily-caught photo. Seconds later, my eyes adjusted and my vision cleared. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. 

I was standing in the living room of our house. The place was silent and only the ticking of the clocks broke the silence. The windows showed the stars on the dark skies outside. It felt so familiar - like I've been here before. Well, this is our house so naturally, it'd be familiar for me, but I felt something was off, like a bad scene's going to happen. 

"And it happens in 3, 2, and...1!" Sadao-san said and counted three fingers. 

Brilliant light suddenly shone through the windows. It was only brief and quickly dissipated along with the loud honk of a car. The door opened suddenly and two people rushed in, one of them carrying someone on his hands. 

"Are those..."

"Yes, Shiro. That's you and your parents," Sadao-san continued. "I used a Memory Talisman which makes me show someone a fragment of my memory."

"But why would you have this memory?" I asked. 

Sadao-san smiled. "You'll see"

Dad was now laying me down on the couch as my Mom pulled several clear and shiny potions out of her Inventory. I looked at myself. My lips were slowly becoming flaky and dry and my body was so pale I could see the veins on my face. 

Mom uncapped one potion and poured the liquid in my mouth. "Takechi, you better call the others now." 

"Yeah, just keep feeding him the Essence Potions," Dad said and got something out of his Inventory. It was a necklace with faintly glowing marble beads. The beads were filled with red dust-like stuff.

"Amaterasu's Beads," Sadao-san uttered. "S-Rank Item, a very rare one at that. The energy inside the beads come from the god herself."

"Amaterasu? You mean the sun goddess?"

[A/N: Amaterasu is the most powerful deity in Japanese mythology. She is the goddess and the embodiment of the sun, and is the queen of all kamis (gods)]

Sadao-san nodded and kept looking at the scene. 

Dad plucked a bead and threw it in the air. The bead glowed and floated. 

"I request that you inform the others of the situation and bring them here as fast as you can," dad said on the ball. The ball split into five and shut their way into different directions. 

"The Essence Potions seem to stabilize him..." Mom said and kept on pouring the contents of the potions on my mouth. "But not for long. These are even S-Rank potions yet he's still not getting normal..."

Dad now put his hand on my forehead and I could feel his mana flow in his hand. A red-orange aura seemed to wrap around his hands through my head. 

"I can't do anything. His Metaphors are too strong. If I force more of my mana into him, I'm sure he'll combust," Dad said and removed his hand. 

My body was filled with glowing lines - my veins - again but this time, they were in different colors, not just blue. It was like the light beam that hit me back in the hospital. I could now hear my breath getting faster and rigid. 

As the veins on my body glowed brighter, balls of light went through the walls and circled around the living room. When they stopped, six people suddenly appeared. I recognized Sadao-san immediately with another man who looked like him. Sadao-san's hair was not white but he had a patch on his right eye. 

"Who are those people, Sadao-san?" I asked him. 

"They're the Septagon, the first seven people who reached the Rank-S on the 21st century. That includes me, Takechi-san and Mayumi-chan," he answered. "That man that looks like me is my son. I was still an A-Rank that time...my son surpassed me, go figure."

The six people were now looking at me. All of their faces seemed so familiar. They were now looking at me with worried faces. 

"Guys, I'm sorry if I called you here in a hurry but I really need the artifacts now," Dad said and got the Amaterasu's Beads out. 

"Don't sweat it. All that matters is the well-being of our godchild," a man with long white hair said. 

All of them got their items - the "artifacts, as what Dad calls - out from their inventory. I tried to move but I couldn't like some barrier was keeping me away from the people. They were on their backs so I wasn't able to see them. However, different colors of light came out from the items and swirled above me before seeping through my chest. 

My body glowed so bright that it blinded my eyes. When the light disappeared, the glowing veins on my body disappeared. My face now looked normal like my blood has gone back to my face. My breathing also wasn't rapid now. The funny thing was I was snoring. I was sleeping. 

A woman with golden hair giggled. "Shiro is really such an innocent kid."

Sadao-san looked at me. "Which is why we must protect him. Even if I am an A-Rank, I do know that if this keeps on, Shiro-chan's Metaphors may be fatal for him."

Dad frowned. "I know. That's why me and Mayumi will be doing what the oracles have prophesied. Perhaps, this is the time that we face the danger again as Figures and as Shiro's parents," he said as Mom leaned on his shoulder. 

Sadao-san's son put his hand on Dad's shoulder."You seem to forget us. I can't just let you have the fun. Besides, I don't want this young child succumb to his own abilities." 

Mom furrowed his brows. "But..."

A man with a pair of goggles on his shabby hair interrupted Mom. "No but's, if's or and's. We are the Septagon, the seven greatest Figures of the century. If this is your problem, then it's ours, too"

The others nodded in approval. 

"Well then, it's decided!" the man with the long white hair exclaimed. "We shall execute the Labors tomorrow!"

The last thing I saw before the whole scene dissolved was my parents holding hands and looked at me with a smile on their faces. The entire place swirled again and I could feel my mind spinning. I was so dizzy that I didn't know what happened next.